The Boy with the Thorn in his Side
by MediocreSalesman
Summary: Growing up in a sleepy, English village, Duncan finds very little time for much else save causing trouble and playing football. But when one of his friends gets a shot at the big leagues, he and the rest of the team deal with celebrating his opportunity and wondering where they'll be left without him. Title taken from the Smiths song of the same name. (Bad Language and drinking)
1. The Plan

**The Boy With the Thorn in His Side**

Duncan sat on his sofa, legs stretched across it, yawning and looking up at the ceiling absent-mindedly.

"Mm-hm!" His father cleared his throat to get his attention. Duncan let his head fall to look at him, raised an eyebrow, then turned his head and continued to stare at the ceiling.

"Young man. This is the last straw." His father was angry as always, his arms crossed and his face an ugly shade of red. Duncan had had this talk before. He wondered how his dad kept finding so many extra straws. The first last straw was when he spray-painted a cock and balls on the head teacher's car. The three day suspension was so worth it, as were the admiring looks of his fellow classmates, but his dad wasn't so lenient, or admiring. Being on the police force meant he had a jurisdiction over his son, and made deals with Duncan's 'victims' over them pressing charges. The head had decided on twenty hours of community service, including scrubbing the graffiti off his car, and a special school uniform for the week when he came back. The outfit they had settled on was an old toga, found in the drama club's cupboard. That wasn't so bad in itself, but the other students were encouraged to yank it down, or mess with it in some way. He couldn't walk between classes without being hassled relentlessly for the first two days, but when Harold tried to lift it up to expose his boxers and received a broken nose, most decided to leave him well alone. Didn't stop all the girls laughing at him though, which would've spelled disaster for his reputation if he wasn't a master of charm, and able to make the best of the toga, getting up at assembly on Friday, and making a large gesture about owning the look.

Respect was the one thing Duncan carried around school, since no bags lasted longer than two weeks with the delinquent without being burned, shredded or 'lost'. His dad was alright spending money on them, because in his words "At least it's his own property, not someone else's".

The second 'last straw' was when he put posters up around the neighborhood for people looking for a dog walker, putting Harold's address on them. Harold, being allergic to dogs, would open his door to a new dog every few hours over the half-term, and would hurry back inside, sniffing and searching for his inhaler. Harold decided that Duncan be subjected to fifty hours community service at the tip, a plan which backfired, as Duncan found himself genuinely enjoying his time there, and especially loving sifting through the rubbish to see what people threw out. Old irons, sofas and radio sets, broken chairs and old, unwanted posters for either overly poppy boy bands or indie bands he had never heard of. Occasionally he'd make a good find, such as a chair he could fix or someone would bring a box of old clothes and he could find some his own size that he liked. He still had some friends at the tip. Nice guys.

The third 'last straw' and the one just prior to this one was when he 'defaced' the statue of the town founder by placing a traffic cone on his head, false nose and glasses on his face, an inflatable rubber ring on his waist, and a United scarf around his neck. The town mayor, a City fan, was not pleased with this gesture, and it was a real struggle for his dad to cut a deal, but eventually, he found his way through. Duncan stood guard over the statue every night for two weeks, from eight pm to midnight. That was proper torture. Boring and technically good for the community, and Duncan doesn't do 'boring' or 'good for the community'.

For a while this had been good enough to keep Duncan out of serious trouble, but like a wild animal, he was drawn to the chase, to the hunt, to the thrill. He had decided this had to be his biggest yet. He was to deface the whole town square, spreading toilet paper everywhere, replacing the cone and scarf on the statue, and perhaps adding his own little flaming touch. As it turned out, the mayor was a bigger fan of the 'guard-on-the-statue' idea than he first figured, and he was caught as he placed the traffic cone on his head, and delivered to the mayor's office and ordered to stay the night. As his dad picked him up in the morning, he had a long chat with the mayor about Duncan's punishment. He had sat outside the office for hours listening in to fragments of conversation. Not all of it was about him, obviously, but it was obviously a big question what the punishment was to be this time. Eventually, as the clock struck noon, his dad emerged from the office to look disappointedly at his son, then gesture for him to follow. Duncan got up and followed his dad to the car, a classic black and white cruiser. When he attempted to get in, his dad shook his head, and opened the back door. Duncan sat silent in the back, separated from his father by the mesh wire. It was humiliating. A powerful gesture from his old man. When they arrived home, his dad opened the door and jerked a thumb at the front door. Duncan entered and sat down on the sofa, waiting for the talk.

"I can't believe you'd do the exact same thing as before! You don't learn at all!"

"Actually, it wasn't the same, you see-" Duncan began

"Don't back talk me." His dad said, his voice low but authoritative. Duncan shut up. "As I was saying," he continued, the anger obviously growing in his voice, "you never learn do you? For Christ's sake son! You're making a mockery out of me, your mother, the family, the police department, and the town. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Oh, I can talk now?" Duncan pondered the question, "I was having a good time."

His dad grit his teeth, "You're running wild, destroying everyone's reputation and ruining Harold's life, for a good time?"

Now, Harold probably didn't deserve all the stuff Duncan did to him. Some of it, definitely, but not all. He was an easy target. Simple as that. A bully's wet dream. Nerdy and scraggly, a stiff wind would get the best of him. He wore two-inch thick glasses and shirts with references to maths, TV shows, or that God awful blue one with the burger. He was allergic to just about everything, and was always escorted out the classroom if they were working on anything remotely cool. It wasn't Duncan's fault he picked on him. It was a duty, almost. Someone had to. Right?

Duncan pondered his dad's question, "Hmm… Yeah, I suppose."

His dad's face turned a deeper shade of red, "And do you really think we deserve this?"

"Well… You and mom? Probably not. But the cops and the town, yes. All they do is try to keep everything down. Nothing ever happens. Everything must be in its place, run smoothly. Why, man? Can't I have a little fun and spread a little chaos without being shut down?"

"When what you're doing is _illegal_ , no." His dad explained. His voice was monotonous, but carried a stern weight to it, like a volcano about to erupt. The calm before the storm. Duncan looked at his watch. It was near one o'clock. Someone should be coming to fetch him soon. His dad stood up, towering over his lounging son, "I've had enough of this. Your school has had enough of this. The department has, the mayor has, and the town has. I've been getting enough complaints from Harold's mom to choke a donkey. What is your vendetta against that boy?"

"It's just a little fun, is all."

"If you say this is fun again I'll personally make sure you never bloody experience anything fun ever again. For the last time Duncan-"

In the middle of his dad's impassioned speech, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" Duncan yelled, motioning to get up.

"You won't," his dad said, "I'll get it." He walked swiftly up to the door and flung it open, "Yes?" He said, still somewhat angrily.

"Uh, Mr Duncan's dad sir, we need Duncan for the game today? Um, we need him now." Geoff stood at the door, his hat in his hands. Geoff's dad had bought him that when they went to America when he was small. Geoff hadn't seen his dad much since then, and the hat was his one reminder of him. No one liked to talk about it much.

"Oh, yes. Of course," Duncan's dad's rage subsided a little, "Duncan! Your friend's here! You don't want to be late for the game." The one thing that kept his dad from really punishing him was football. Duncan captained the local U16 side, a team feared throughout the entire North-East U16 Football Conference. They'd won the competition for the last two years, and were only a few games from a third in three years. Having played a lot of 'footy' as a kid himself, his dad knew how much football could mean for a boy, especially one with such a passion as his son. There was real potential there, as he often said proudly to anyone who would listen, whether they wanted to or not. Duncan appreciated this as more than an almost literal 'get out of jail free card'. The time he spent playing with his friends was the best part of still living in this quiet, sleepy little town, even better than casual vandalism and minor misdemeanours.

He ran outside, grabbing his kitbag as he rushed out the door, "Thanks dad, catch you later!" He shouted as he sprinted up the street, followed immediately by Geoff, who wasn't expecting this immediate reaction.

"Give them hell son!" His dad yelled back, his son's criminal activities all but forgotten.

"Thanks for that, mate. You really got me out of trouble there." Duncan said to Geoff as they hurried up to the local park where they played their games.

"Don't mention it," Geoff replied, "We need you anyway. We're playing Queenstown today."

"Those bums? Easy." He laughed, filling himself with confidence. It's what a captain had to do. If the team knew he knew they could do it, the confidence and bravado spread easily.

"Heh, you're right. We'll batter 'em again." Geoff stated, proving Duncan's tactic was working.

"Actually, Geoff, you know what I was planning to do to celebrate?"

"Uh, we haven't won yet…"

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah but when we do? I'm gonna spend the night in the old house on the hill."

"Isn't that supposed to be haunted?" Geoff gulped.

Duncan smirked, "Well, duh. But it isn't. Ghosts don't exist."

"Oh," Geoff breathed a sigh of relief, "I knew that."

"Whatever," Duncan conceded, "You in? I'm thinking maybe a group of ten or so."

"Yeah I'm in. Sounds cool, like a party. Who you gonna get?"

"Well there's you and DJ, then the girls will want in, then maybe a few of the team. You get me?"

"Yeah yeah, I feel you. Maybe we should win the game first though."

Duncan grinned from ear to ear, "Yeah. Time to play some football."

They made it to the ground in about five minutes, where coach Hatchet, who also happened to be the school cook and an ex-professional himself, having played in over two hundred games himself for lower league clubs, stood waiting for the last two players to arrive. "You've got ten minutes to get changed. Hop to it!" He yelled as they sprinted past him and into the locker room. The coach's tough love was important to the team, as they all knew. Every one of them loved and respected him, and would've followed his guidance to the ends of the earth. Hatchet himself was happy just to be involved again. The kids and their team meant the world to him too, and together their bond formed an unstoppable force.

Inside they were met by the hulking mass of DJ, Duncan's partner in the centre of defense and the club's star player. "Dudes! C'mon everyone else is already out there and warming up!"

"Good afternoon to you too, D." Duncan said sarcastically, "We'll be fine. No need to worry about us."

"Yeah," Geoff agreed, "you just get yourself warmed up and ready to kill 'em."

DJ rolled his eyes, and walked outside, the clacking of his studs echoing through the room.

The guys were out and ready in two minutes, and began to prepare for the fixture by stretching and warming up. Trent, their lone striker in the 4-2-3-1 formation they played, strolled up to his captain as they stood waiting for the game to begin and said "Heard you got arrested last night, man."

Duncan seemed irritated for a second, but quickly took hold of the situation, "Nah, I just got caught putting the cone on the statue again."

"You did it again?" Trent asked, more amused than shocked.

"Well, I thought it was so good last time, it deserved a sequel. Maybe start a trend, you know."

Trent raised an eyebrow and smirked, before shaking off the idea, "Whatever, man. Ready for the game now, captain?"

"You bet your ass Trent. Gather the team, we'll be on in a minute."

The team consisted of entirely students from the same school, as they had dominated the tryouts and formed their own team together, forcing anyone else outside the team if they wanted to really play. In goal was Owen, the fat one. No one really wanted to play keeper, and Owen was desperate to join in, and so the big man was placed in goal,and proved to be somewhat decent. He was more agile than his size would show - but only barely more so - and even if that didn't work, the ball would have a tough time getting around him. The team's defense was really the reason they conceded so few. Duncan and DJ in the centre was a lethal combo. Duncan played with a ferocity befitting someone of his record, constantly chipping in at a striker, and trying to violently barrel through as many ball carriers as possible while still technically getting the ball. The most bookings in the league for two years running and a long list of injuries left behind gave him and his partner the reputation they needed. DJ was the opposite to Duncan, which is probably why they were such an effective tandem. Where the shorter Duncan played aggressive and violent, DJ used his size to his advantage, and would only have to get in the way to scare any player into getting rid of the ball quickly. Unbeatable at set pieces, and a tough tackler when needed, DJ stood out amongst the conference, and his play was enough to get him noticed by a few teams, if the rumours were true. At full back were Tyler and Izzy, arguably the two least talented players on the team. The two were good enough tacklers, and could get the ball forward when needed, but were hardly used in plays when it could be helped. Tyler was almost useless in coverage, and was lucky he had the centre backs to keep him out of trouble if a cross came in, and Izzy was a liability at best. She was somehow more violent than Duncan at times, which thankfully kept people away from her area of the pitch, but if someone could get in her head and outplay her, there was immediately danger.

Moving forward, to two players in a more defensive midfielder role. Justin and Zeke were two more of the weaker players, but could hold their own when needed. Justin was never one to dive in for a tackle, for fear of hurting his face, or even getting too muddy if the pitch was that bad, but was good on the ball, and had a nice pass on him, which he used to get himself out of danger as often as possible. Zeke was the opposite. Seemingly raised in the mud, he had no problem with diving in for a tackle, and would relish any attempt to push someone off the ball. On the ball, on the other hand, he made many mistakes, and would simply offload the ball to Justin if he was under any distress.

Outside of the centre of defense, the team's real star attraction was its front four. Geoff stood in an attacking midfielder role, and was the usual target for removing the ball from the danger zones in their half. He was great on the ball and had a killer through pass on him, and he would gladly spread the ball out to his wide midfielders or to his striker if he saw the pass. Outside of him were the wingers, the girls, Eva and Bridgette. They were practically the reason the league let girls play, as Bridgette advocated peacefully and got petitions signed, and Eva advocated violently if they wouldn't let her play. They quickly won over the governing body, and took up their position either side of Geoff. Eva was a bully on the ball, and defenders were hardly able to stop her at all if she got going, as she would shove, barge and elbow her way through any challenge that came her way. Bridgette was arguably their most talented player with the ball at her feet. She had a silky set of moves that any street performer would be proud of, and could make her way around the most forceful tackle without missing a beat. Trent stood alone at striker as the team's top goal scorer. He was nothing special, a jack of all trades really, but he was the most accurate when it came to shooting, and was great at seeing where the killer strike should go.

And that was the team, beside the three dejected subs that sat on the bench throughout most of the game. Occasionally Coach would bring one on if someone got too tired, too wound up, or injured, though cases of injury on this team were exceedingly rare.

As the beginning of the game drew near, the team gathered around Duncan, and all took a knee as he stood proudly above them. "Now, this is a crucial game, we all know that. Winning this is the first step to our third Championship in three years. We know we can beat them. We're better than them, I know it, you know it and they know it. The only team that can beat us is ourselves. So we're just gonna have to play at our level, exactly as we have all season. Trent, if you don't score twice against that defense, you're off the starting XI."

Trent pulled an incredulous face, "Who are you gonna replace me with?" He asked, trying to take hold of the situation.

"I'll go up there myself, eh? You can do it. Now, as for the rest of you, I expect high energy. Coach will come to outline their strengths and give us our tactics. Coach?" He called over to coach Hatchet, who strolled leisurely over to his team.

"Alright, listen up. They play 4-5-1, because they've got no idea how the game works. They stack the midfield, which is built around their three quality players, the big guy, the girl, and the ginger ninja." Owen stifled a laugh at this. "Justin and Zeke, I expect you guys to keep them in check. If they can't work past you they have one option, the striker. He's fast and can move, and so I expect big hits, you two." He pointed at DJ and Duncan. "The ginger one can't play on the ball, but will always look for a pass. When he has it make sure you cover well, and he'll be forced to try to do something. The keeper's just big, not as big as ours, but big. You should have no trouble putting five on these bums. Clear?"

"Yes, coach." Came the chant from the entire team, as they felt themselves getting pumped.

"Who's the best?"

"We're the best!"

"Who's the best?" He yelled.

"We're the best!" The team shouted back, getting off their knees and jumping around.

"Now get out there and show me!" Coach bellowed, as the team took the field. Duncan was last to go, and as he stepped past him, he grabbed his shoulder, "Listen captain, you're the leader for a reason. I expect them to follow you. You don't let anyone past you. Hit them. Hard. Remember what we talked about?"

"The Battering Ram, yeah, I remember. When we need it. Got it."

Coach smiled an almost malevolent smile, "Good boy. Now go out there and call the toss."

"Yes, coach!" He said, saluting. Coach saluted back and watched him go onto the pitch to meet the other team's captain, to cheers from the tens of parents and fans gathered for their team, and polite applause from the visitors, who brought maybe a dozen spectators. It was going to be a good game, he felt it in his bones. He was gonna enjoy this.

Duncan casually walked through his teammates as they stretched out to the centre of the field, where an overweight referee was standing with the other team's captain, a tall dark-skinned boy with short, electric white hair, and a body like a teenage Greek god, which stuck out as he wore his shirt clinging to his muscles in an obvious vain call for attention. "Dick." Duncan thought. The ref pointed to Duncan, "Since this is your home game, you call it in the air." He tossed a coin.

"Tails." Duncan called as it spiralled downwards.

It landed in the ref's hand, and he looked at it, as the two boys desperately tried to peer into his hand. "It's heads." He announced. What is your choice, Queenstown?"

"We'll kick off." The boy decided smugly, as if he thought Duncan cared in the slightest.

"Alright. Shake hands, and I'll have a good clean game, you hear? No funny business. Keep it civil."

"Good luck." Duncan said almost sarcastically as he reached out his hand.

"Won't need it." The other boy remarked as he shook his hand and began to walk away, signalling to his team that they had won the toss.

Duncan rolled his eyes and turned back to his team, "Line it up. Prepare to defend." As he walked past Zeke, he grasped his shoulder and told him "If that captain comes past you, lay him out. Ruthlessness, yeah?"

"Uh, sure thing, cap." He responded. Duncan grinned and moved to stand next to DJ.

"Let's get 'em, man." He said, raising his fist.

"Let's do it." DJ replied, bumping fists with him, as the ref blew the whistle and the game began.

1st Minute:

Their captain kicked off, playing it to the striker, who immediately played it back into the midfield. Trent, Geoff and Eva pushed into their half as Bridgette stepped back to watch the flank. Queenstown then slipped it back into the defense as they started to cover the midfield, leaving their star players no room to make a play. One of the defenders attempted to play it to the ginger one, but Trent was watching, and simply slid in front of him to nick the ball at the edge of the box. Looking up, he saw Eva running into the box, and chipped it up for her. The ball floated down and she blasted it into the post where it bounced out. She kicked the ground, and fell back away from the goal. Coach Hatchet called from the sideline "Nice, good play. Keep it up. No sweat!"

"No sweat," Trent echoed as he backtracked alongside Eva, who nodded, despite being mildly pissed.

5th minute:

After Queenstown bounced the ball around themselves with no hint at a dangerous attack, they won the ball back as Zeke slid in on their captain. He had nowhere to go as Zeke hung around him, suffocating him. The captain slapped the ground as he watched Zeke play it to Justin who passed it through to Geoff. Geoff turned and ran it past the girl in midfield, before lobbing it to Bridgette in the corner. She controlled it, and looked up, crossing it onto Trent's head. Trent smashed the ball towards the bottom corner, where the keeper was just able to tip it around the post. The linesman signalled for a corner.

"Corner!" Duncan shouted from his position, "Five! Five!" Trent, Geoff, Eva and Justin fell in the box, as DJ moved up to stand at the edge. Bridgette stood at the corner flag, and waited for the ref's whistle. He blew and she whipped it in, as DJ rushed into the box and leapt upwards. He connected his head with the ball hard, blasting it into the top right corner. Goal. 1-0.

"Atta boy DJ!" Coach yelled from the sidelines as the boy retreated to his half, high-fiving his teammates as he went past. The supporters applauded and cheered as he tracked backwards, while the visiting supporters stood around with their arms crossed and brows furrowed, annoyed, except one, a skinny red-haired girl wearing a pink scarf, pink gloves, and a pink flower in her hair. She politely clapped along, smiling at both teams. Duncan raised an eyebrow, as she told the players that walked past her "Good job," or "You can do it. Keep at it," depending on which team they played for. As she scanned the field, she noticed Duncan looking at her incredulously, and her face became the same shade of red at her hair. She looked down sheepishly, smiling at her feet, embarrassed. Duncan rolled his eyes and turned to DJ, "Nice work man. How many's that now? Three, four?"

"That was my… fourth? I think?" DJ said, trying to remember his goal tally.

"Still doesn't beat nine does it?" Duncan laughed.

"Doesn't Bridgette have ten?" DJ asked, smirking.

"Whatever, she plays on the wing." Duncan brushed off the question. Duncan and Bridgette had a bet that Duncan would finish the season with more goals, more based on Duncan's faith in himself than a lack thereof in Bridgette. Duncan was close, and there were few games left to pull himself ahead.

7th minute:

Queenstown finally brought on their first genuine attack. Zeke slipped as their captain ran past, so the ginger one passed it through and the captain was able to march it forwards. Without warning, Izzy left her position and leapt in at the ball, thankfully feet first, powering it away to their striker. The skinny redhead on the sidelines called "Yeah! Go Mike!" as he tried to move it past Justin. He swept the ball through his legs and tried to run onto it, but DJ came barrelling in, and booted it back to their defense. 'Mike' as his name seemed to be, looked up at DJ and gulped, before shaking and talking to himself as he backtracked. Duncan walked up to DJ, "Nice…" and then, referring to Mike, "What's his problem?"

"Can't handle me." DJ shrugged.

10th minute:

"Corner!" the linesman called, as Trent's shot bounced off the keeper's stomach and hit one of the defender's backs before rolling out of play.

"Two, two, two!" Duncan called, ushering Geoff and Trent into the box, himself standing at the edge of the area. Bridgette stood over the ball once again, waiting for the whistle. It came and she lashed the ball in again, onto the head of Geoff, who knocked it back for Duncan, who violently lashed it into the side netting. Goal. 2-0. As Duncan made his way back, waving his arms to pump up the crowd and soaking in the applause, he shuffled past Bridgette, "Hey, I think that's ten now…"

She blushed and smiled, "You're getting close. Still got some time though."

"Yeah, and I'll still score more in that time," Duncan jeered.

"Oh, wanna bet?" She asked, giggling to herself.

"Isn't that what we're doing?" He smirked.

She rolled her eyes, "Whatever Goal-Machine, go do your actual job and I'll keep setting them up for you."

"As long as you're not scoring!" He called as he picked up the pace, hurrying back. She smiled to herself. She didn't have a comeback.

Setting himself up, Duncan caught the eye of the girl on the sideline, and smirked at her, giving her the 'OK' hand gesture. She blushed, and avoided his gaze. Looking around for Mike, Duncan reasoned.

17th minute:

After a period of little happening, the ginger passer somehow saw an opening, and lobbed the ball up to the striker. Mike controlled it and turned, confronted with DJ and Duncan. DJ stood his ground as Duncan trekked behind him, covering the middle of the box. Agile as possible, Mike flicked the ball outside and somehow slid through DJ's legs. Before DJ could react, Mike had collected the ball and began to close in on goal. Tyler attempted to tackle but tripped over his own feet. Duncan saw the opportunity and rushed to meet Mike, trying to steal the ball. Mike saw him coming and seemed to panic, booting the ball haphazardly towards the net. The ball floated in, and over Owen's outstretched arms. Goal. 2-1.

Duncan grimaced as the boy ran off to his side of the field. They thought they were back in it now. Time to teach them otherwise. As Mike ran off, he stopped by the redhead and hugged her, as she clung on tight, jumping and cheering, telling him what a good job he was doing no doubt. Lucky bastard, Duncan thought, his anger boiling over.

DJ walked over and extended a hand. Duncan took it and he helped heave him onto his feet. DJ looked at Queenstown somewhat solemnly, "Lucky devil, ain't he?"

"Ha, yeah," Duncan admitted, "but it seems his only move is how agile he is. Shouldn't be a big deal honestly, yeah? Next time, unleash the battering ram."

"Aw, man, c'mon," DJ whined, "you know I don't like the battering ram."

"Look, we're all gonna have to do things we don't like. I don't like conceding goals, man. To teach this guy and that team a lesson, we need to use it. If we concede any more, how many teams are really gonna have their interest piqued? None. You're the big strong half-back who don't take shit, yeah? Prove it. We are not losing. No way."

DJ sighed, "Yeah… yeah. Next time he comes past…"

Duncan nodded and pulled a face, "Yeah. Let's get this started."

21st minute:

The team was enjoying a good bit of possession and dominance now. Eva had another shot clatter off the bar, and Trent tried to slide one around the keeper, only to be denied by a defender, who came sweeping in at the last minute, clearing the ball to his full back. Geoff was now on the ball, standing in the centre, waiting for someone to challenge him. Luckily, the captain was a fan of brawn over brains, and came charging at him. Geoff knitted his brows and chipped the ball over the sliding tackler, collected it, then sent the ball to Eva, who ran into the box, shoving off defenders, before the girl in midfield sliced at her legs.

The ref blew the whistle and pointed to the spot. They'd won a penalty. Duncan smiled. But Eva was not so happy, and was nose to nose with the girl that tackled her, who may not have been as big as Eva but seemed at least as feisty, and was exchanging words with her with no fear. Eva grit her teeth and clenched her fist, as Bridgette came rushing over to stop it. She glared at her, and Bridgette backed down.

"No, please," the other girl smirked, "have someone else help you out. No biggie."

If not for Trent and DJ, Eva would've flattened the girl, but instead she was carried away, still hurling insults at the offender. The ref blew the whistle again, and stared at Duncan, as if the fight was his fault, and he wasn't keeping his promise in keeping the game clean. Duncan shrugged. Not his problem. The ref pulled out a yellow card, and called the girls over, booking both of them. The girls kept staring each other down, the other girl daring Eva to do anything, and put her team at a disadvantage.

Once the girls were discharged, there came the question of who would take the kick. Usually it was Trent, but Bridgette and Eva had both taken pens in the past. Hell, so had Geoff, Justin and Duncan. Eva was not going to accept 'no' for an answer though, and stood over the spot and the ball waiting to see if anyone was dumb enough to argue. No one was.

The teams lined up outside the area and waited for the signal. The ref blew and Eva ran up, hammering the ball home into the top corner at seemingly Mach speeds. Goal. 3-1.

As Eva came back, she pointed at the girl, who stood her ground, smirking, but her eyes gave away a bit of fear. No need to be ashamed, Duncan thought, everyone was afraid of Eva.

27th minute:

As the game neared halftime - halves were 30 minutes at this level - the teams' attacks became fewer and far between. After a lapse for the defending midfielders, Mike came bounding at the goal, his lanky frame shaking as if it were about to come toppling down, and he'd be nothing but a pile of bones and dust. Duncan took one sideways glance at DJ, then approached Mike, DJ following after him. Before Mike could get rid of the ball, Duncan came flying in, taking the ball but clattering Mike in the process, sending him flying over him, into the path of the hulking mass of DJ. Mike was hit at full force by the running DJ and flattened to the ground, as Duncan looked for a pass to play. Queenstown were in shock, and Duncan decided to run it out. He got to the halfway line before the ref blew his whistle to stop the play. Duncan raised his arms to shoulder level in silent complaint, and the ref angrily pointed to Mike lying on the floor as if he'd been shot.

DJ leaned over him, "Oh my, are- are you okay, dude?" He asked, kinda frightened he'd hurt the kid, "Hello? Hello?"

The ref came bumbling over, his belly jiggling and the sweat flying off his forehead. He signalled for an amateur medic to come on the field. Duncan searched for the redhead in the crowd as he sauntered back to his position. As he expected, she was in complete shock, her gloved hands almost inside her mouth, her eyes inhumanly wide, and brimming with the slightest hint of tears. She noticed Duncan and gasped slightly, her eyes seemingly pleaded him, for a reason neither of them knew. Duncan pouted and shrugged, his arms raised in mock innocence and ignorance. Her eyes flashed something slightly angry, furious, even, as she gasped again and turned her attention back to her beloved 'Mike'. Duncan rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, waiting impatiently for the game to return to action.

After maybe a minute, Mike stood up, holding his head, and lifting a thumb up to the sideline, where the visiting supporters applauded and the home supporters clapped along politely. The coach came up to him, but Mike waved him off, clearly indicating that he thought he could carry on. Duncan grinned malevolently. This was an opportunity.

The 28th minute of play was beginning, and Duncan played the drop ball short to Justin, who floundered, not expecting to receive it, as the captain tackled him and kicked the ball to Mike. Duncan grinned again, wider. Mike was clearly flustered, but still attempted to move the ball forward. Duncan raced at him, and slid in again, removing the ball clean from under Mike's feet over to Izzy, and causing Mike to tumble over again. The redhead called out his name, worried that this one would push Mike over the edge of injury. Alas, he got up again, but at this point, Bridgette was speeding down the sideline, effortlessly making her way past the fullbacks, and whipping the ball across into the box, where Trent headed it harmlessly over the bar.

Soon, the half came, and the ref blew the whistle to stop play for the next five minutes, so the teams could look over the half, plan tactics, and get properly re-hydrated.

Coach Hatchet signalled his team to gather round, and they all shuffled into a vague semi-circle, each taking a knee. "Alright kids," he said, showing no signs of joy and no signs of anger, "Alright. They got one lucky goal. Ain't no big deal, right?"

The team nodded warily.

"Ain't no big deal if we stop them scoring any more."

The team nodded again.

"You're all over 'em. All over 'em. They don't stand a chance when you play even half as good as you can. I know, I've been watching and you guys sure as hell should know, you've been playing. Duncan, DJ great work in defence, and nice goals, they can't handle either of ya. Bridge, Eva great work, keep them full-backs frightened and on their toes and they'll be shitting themselves to deal with ya. But you've gotta keep your head, Eva. Don't let that angry chick try and distract ya. Everyone else, good job too, great job all round. I expect at least two more goals, yeah? Let's go, team on three."

Everyone put their hands in the centre of the semi-circle and Coach counted down: "1, 2, 3…"

"Team!" The kids yelled, each one hopping up and clapping their hands, getting pumped for the second half.

Each one lined up, and Duncan and DJ reached over for a fist-bump as they watched Trent and Geoff line up for kick-off. Duncan eyed up Mike looking jittery as he stood across from the spot, his eyes desperately searching for his red-head girl in the crowd. He locked eyes with Duncan as his gaze returned to the field. Duncan grinned, and he saw him gulp and visibly quake with fear. This was gonna be one fun half-hour.

31st minute: Trent played the ball to Geoff on the sound of the whistle and the ball found it's way to their defence soon enough. Duncan slid the ball to DJ, who waited for their players to approach, before blasting it upfield to Bridgette, who caught the ball on her chest, controlling it and sprinting to the edge of the box towards the sideline. She stood for a split-second, the ball under her foot, and whipped it in towards Trent, but the ball was intercepted and brought back to the relative safety of midfield.

36th minute: Mike came staggering through to the box again, seeming wary and careful, not fully concentrating. DJ met him at the edge, and Mike tried to use his skill to get round him, but DJ predicted his move, and swept the ball away to Duncan. Seizing his opportunity, Duncan sprinted it through the middle of the park up to the edge of the box, either dodging tackles or intimidating players into backing off. There, he eyed up the keeper and the goal, before swiftly curving the ball around a defender with the side of his foot and into the bottom right corner. Goal. 4-1. For a second everyone went silent, not believing what they'd just seen. After making sure the ball was well and truly in, Duncan, a little shocked himself, turned to the crowd and slowly walked towards them as they began to applaud and cheer. Smirking, he jogged along the sideline, bigging up the crowd, waving his arms and jumping around. The home supporters loved it, the parents laughing and clapping along. The away crowd did not. They glared into his eyes, as he just smirked in their faces, lifting a hand to his ear to indicate that he couldn't hear them. The red-head emerged at the front of the crowd her arms crossed and her brow furrowed. Duncan stopped in front of her, turned, bowed and winked. She turned a deep crimson, as he peeled away to his team, who were watching his display in awe, shock and varying states of amusement. The group grabbed him in a hug, and as they peeled off to go back into position, he grabbed Bridgette's sleeve, "Hey, I think that's ten."

She seemed flustered, before muttering "Lucky…"

He laughed out loud, and she smiled before running back to her spot. DJ grinned wildly at him, "Dude! How?"

"Pure talent, my friend." He said, grinning just as wildly, "Pure talent."

41st minute: The crowd had all calmed down and so had the game. The team were bouncing the ball around Queenstown's box as they let them, showing no effort and no attempt to rob them of the ball. Trent collected the ball on the edge of the box, stopping it under his foot. Suddenly, the aggressive girl from before slid, two-footed, through the back of him, avoiding the ball altogether. After an audible "Oof" from the crowd, the ref bumbled over and produced a red card, ejecting the girl from the pitch. After she argued for a few moments, Eva walked over and pointed to the sideline. Seeing an opportunity, Duncan ran over and joined her. Soon, so did Geoff and Zeke. Angered and defeated, the girl walked dejected to the sideline, where her coach yelled at her, before indicating she should sit at his feet and watch the rest of the game. As they attempted to get the game restarted, Trent hung over the ball, expecting to take the free kick. No one argued. He stepped back as the ref attempted to deal with the Queenstown wall. He blew the whistle and Trent stepped up, whipping the ball into the top corner, far from the keeper's outstretched hand. Goal. 5-1.

Trent wheeled off in celebration, moving his arms in small circles by his side, the way the rail ran along the wheels on an old steam train. He'd done this after every goal, and no one really wanted to ask why. His teammates clapped him on the back as he returned to them, but by now, most of the excitement had died down. It was just too easy at this point. No reason to let up though, Duncan thought.

50th minute: Zeke aggressively ripped the ball away from the Queenstown captain and booted it up to the wing where Bridgette was waiting, much to the frustration of the captain, who raised his arms in desperation and knelt down. Seeing this brought a signature smirk to Duncan's face. Bridgette deftly controlled the ball, and flicked it on over the full-back who slid in. Weaving between two defenders she jinxed her way into the box and onto the penalty spot, where she quickly curved the ball into the bottom corner. Goal. 6-1.

Immediately Bridgette turned and raised one finger at Duncan, as he watched from just outside his own box. He shrugged and Bridgette stuck her tongue out at him as she was tackled by Geoff and then mobbed by her other teammates.

Looking around, somewhat bored and slightly angered that Bridgette had scored more (Though there was enough time for him to win) Duncan noticed some late comers. The popular girls. They never showed up. Nothing better to do, he reasoned, trying to get the attention of 'Head Bitch', Heather. She popped a gum bubble and looked over, elbowing the blonde Lindsay at her side, who nudged Gwen to her side. Gwen glared at her and Lindsay looked down at her feet, embarrassed and kind of scared. He had no idea why Gwen hung out with them. She seemed so out of place with her teal hair, short black dress, and goth boots compared to Heather's white crop top and ponytail, and Lindsay's polkadot summer dress and red headband. Courtney was there two, scribbling down notes on a small notepad she always had on her. She'd been here the whole time though, and had just appeared to greet her friends. She wrote the school newspaper that nobody actually read. Well, unless he was on the cover. But he was on the cover a lot. Heather raised one corner of her mouth and mouthed "Score?"

Duncan held up five fingers on one hand and one on the other, before changing the five to a one and flicking between the two. Heather raised an eyebrow, and looked at her friends. Lindsay was counting the fingers on her own hand and Gwen rolled her eyes and Duncan saw her say "Six-one." The look on Heather's face seemed to show that she was impressed. Suddenly, Courtney stepped in front of the girls, much to Heather's annoyance, and waved her notepad at him, indicating she wanted to talk to him afterwards. Duncan waved her off - better to play hard to get, he decided - and turned back to the game as the ref was finishing preparing kick-off. Again.

59th minute: The game was practically over. Hell, it had been practically over for about thirty minutes. DJ lifted a lazy ball up to the box and one of the defender's hoofed it out of bounds for a corner. Trent looked at Duncan, who shrugged. "Um. Two? I guess." He said, slowly making his way to the edge of the box. Trent shrugged at Geoff and they stood together in the box surrounded by Queenstown players. Bridgette stood over the corner ball, as the ref called "Last play of the game!"

She raised an arm and whipped it in, onto the head of Geoff. He launched it directly at the bottom right corner. Blocked. The captain swooped in and swept it out to the edge of the box - and Eva. Eva hit the ball with her full power... Straight into a defender. The ball was free again and Duncan went up to fake lashing it, before chipping it up into the centre where Geoff leapt again and sent it back to the other corner. This time, no one was there to stop it. Goal. 7-1.

The ref blew the whistle.

Game over.

As the keeper fished the ball out of his net, Duncan went over to the ref, shook his hand as Coach encouraged him to do, then proceeded to greet and shake hands with the team, as his friends did after him. A nice tradition and a great way to see who they had offended the most. The captain refused to shake anyone's hand, and stormed over to his coach and the girl who had been sent off earlier. Duncan specifically waited to shake Mike's hand last, wanting to see the effect he'd had. After being blanked by the ginger one, he shook his head and walked over to Mike on the sideline, as he was talking with the redhead who'd been cheering him on. "Hey," Duncan interrupted, "Good game, man. Sorry for that thing earlier. Hope it didn't affect you too much." He laughed after this sentence to try and keep a light mood. Mike and the girl did not laugh. Just how he liked it.

"Yeah… yeah sure good game, man." Mike waved him away. Duncan held out his hand. He was acutely aware of the girl giving him one hell of a glare. Mike looked at Duncan's hand and said "Look, we were kinda doing-"

"Look just shake my hand, ay? Ass?"

"There's no-"

"It's a gesture of goodwill, man. If you're gonna act like an ass I'm gonna treat ya like one. Shake my damn hand" Duncan hissed, annoyed that this boy could possibly have the balls to refuse this gesture. Especially after he'd been battered so badly. Prick.

"I… you… we… I- okay fine, man. You happy?" Mike limply grabbed his hand and turned his back to him, looking only at her. She however, continued to look at him, but instead of anger in her eyes, he saw something else. Pity? Desperation? Sadness? He couldn't be bothered to work it out. He gave her the "What a dick!" gesture behind Mike's back and went to walk off.

"Actually Mike, I think Coach is calling you over." He heard her say, "You should probably see what he wants and what he thought about the game."

"But Zo… Alright, yeah, you're right."

Duncan heard him jog off, and turned, smirking, back to 'Zo'. She stood, arms crossed, pouting, looking like a child that didn't get its way. Adorable, he thought.

"So?" He asked, approaching again.

"What you did wasn't nice." She stated, trying to seem as angry or intimidating as possible.

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, thanks. It's an accident. Accidents happen. Be happy he ain't hurt."

"That doesn't excuse any-"

"What else is there to excuse?" He asked, getting slightly annoyed with the scolding.

"You played on."

"Didn't know he was hurt. Gotta take every advantage here. It all happens so fast, you've just gotta keep the ball rolling."

She opened her mouth to reply, but no words came out. Just a high-pitched squeak. He laughed and she pouted again, "Look, I just don't want Mike getting hurt."

"There's nothing I can do about that," he stated, "if he gets hurt he gets hurt. My job is to stop him. And I stopped him."

"He still scored."

"I scored two. We scored seven. The job was done." Now she was completely lost for words. "What's your name?" He asked, hoping to make the conversation slightly less awkward.

"Zoey."

"I'm Duncan."

"I know. The notepad girl couldn't stop bringing you up. Like-"

"What did she say?" He asked, suddenly intrigued.

"Like," she continued, ignoring the interruption, "is that Duncan on the ball? Is that Duncan who scored? Oh that's classic Duncan. He better not get near Duncan." She seemed somewhat hurt. And maybe a little jealous.

He smirked, "Classic Courtney. I'm kind of a big deal around here."

Zoey rolled her eyes, "Yeah, sure, whatever."

He blinked, "I…"

Now she had the upper hand, and she realized, "No, we've all heard of the mighty Duncan," she teased, "he's the greatest. Better not get near him or he'll tackle you or draw a penis on your shirt."

After stuttering for a split-second, he came out with "Ah, my reputation precedes me."

"It's not funny you know. Or cool. Or clever."

"Hey, it's cool and funny enough to get me on the front page 'news'," he used air quotes for the word news, "and it definitely doesn't have to be clever."

"Yeah, but…" she trailed off.

"You in town for long?"

She gasped, taken aback by his bluntness, "I-I-I have a-"

"I know. I don't care. I'm just curious. Setting up a party of sorts. Y'know, to celebrate the victory."

"I-I-I'm only here for the weekend…"

"Perfect. You can come?" And before she answered "Great, tomorrow night. The old house up-'" he paused "You don't know where that is. Meet me in the square. Big old statue. Cone on the head. 9. Yeah?"

She was getting truly flustered now, her face completely crimson, "I… suppose… can Mike?"

"Oh no, it's a victory thing. Can't have a loser coming. Just be embarrassing for him. Alright?"

"A-alright."

"Great. You wanna give me your phone number, and I'll call you when we're ready, or you call me."

"Okay…" she stated nervously and giving him her number, as he gave her his.

"Nice. See you there," and with that, and a wink, he left her there, feeling confused and ashamed but strangely proud. Maybe she was finally becoming popular? Cool at least?

After his conversation with Zoey, Duncan jogged back over to his side, who were celebrating together on the side of the pitch with water and their friends. Geoff greeted him as he arrived, "Coach said no need for a talk. We know we kicked their asses."

"Hell yeah we did!" He laughed, "Great work, team!"

"Team!" They all shouted, lifting up their own water bottles in some malformed version of a toast.

"Alright, we can celebrate this all weekend, time to get changed so the party can continue, yeah?"

"Yeah!" Came the echo, as Eva, Justin, Tyler, Owen, Izzy, and Zeke headed off to the changing rooms. Bridgette motioned to leave, but Geoff nudged her and whispered something. Her eyebrows raised and her lips curled into a smile as she stopped and turned to look at Duncan.

"What's the announcement then?" Trent asked, looking around to check everyone here was meant to be here.

"As Geoff has probably said," he gestured to his friend, "I have a little something planned for tomorrow night."

"Uh huh." DJ nodded

"You guys are all aware of the Old House?"

"The one on the hill?" Trent asked

"The one that's supposed to be haunted?" DJ asked, shaking slightly.

"The very same." he smiled, "I'm thinking of throwing a little victory celebration overnight there. Sound good?"

"Shouldn't the rest of the team know?" Bridgette asked, looking back to check they were all out of earshot.

"No, no, no." Duncan said somewhat incredulously. You want any of them at a party? C'mon. It'll be us, I can get Heather and then obviously Lindsay, Trent can bring his girlfriend-"

"She's not my girlfriend, man." Trent complained.

"Fine, Trent's girl-that-he-likes-but-constantly-rejects-him can come too. If she wants to bring a friend: cool. Courtney will come, and if you guys want anyone else tell me now. I've already got a surprise guest." No one spoke up. "Okay then. 9:15 on the hill. Bring any supplies, you know, sleeping bag, torch, cards, booze?"

"Can do," Geoff grinned, "This is gonna be one wicked party."

"Yeah it will. Alright guys, let's actually get changed. Tell no one else in there."

The group nodded and dispersed into the locker-rooms.

Leaving the locker-rooms, DJ to his right, Geoff to his left, Duncan was greeted by Courtney, who prodded a finger into his chest and demanded "Where were you? It's been half an hour, and you knew I wanted an interview!"

"I assumed it could wait," he shrugged, "I still remember what happened, yeah?"

She rolled her eyes, "That's not the point…"

"Then what is the point?"

"Just… Just answer these questions, okay? How was the game?"

"Good, we won."

"Can I have a more detailed answer?" She asked through gritted teeth.

He sighed, "It was an easy game. No challenge, but we could've done with the break and easy games towards the end of the season. We've proved that we're the team to beat, and that we're not to be messed with. We've got three actual tough games coming up to finish the season and this was a nice tune-up. Another three points closer to the title."

She scribbled some notes down, "Yes, and how do you think the team played? Did anyone stand out?"

"We played as a unit. DJ here was a total rock and showed why all those teams are interested. Maybe you could talk to him ins-"

"Just answer the questions. Are you concerned with Eva's temper?"

"No."

She glared at him. He shrugged. Geoff and DJ stood off, watching the staring match between the two, "Feel the tension!" Geoff whispered to DJ.

"Whatever," Courtney admitted defeat, "what are you gonna do next?"

"Funny you should mention," he began, proud of his victory of wills, "I'm throwing a party. Up in the old house and you are very much invited, Court. Saturday. 9:15 on the hill."

She blushed slightly, "I… I can't I'm too busy…"

"No you're not. Show up, bring a sleeping bag or something. Something fun too, cards or something. Or drink."

"I… I don't drink…"

"I can fix that."

"... Who's going to be there?"

"Me, DJ, Geoff, Trent, Bridgette, Gwen probably, and a special mystery guest of my own. I'll be sure to rope Heather and Lindsay in too."

She smiled slightly, "I'll be there. Thanks for talking with me."

" No problem," he said, as she turned and jogged away, muttering to herself and going over her notes.

DJ and Geoff shuffled back closer to Duncan and Geoff elbowed him, "Smooth, dude!" He said, with a giant grin plastered on his face.

"Whatever, man. She digs me."

"Duh," DJ said, "but what are you gonna do about it?"

"We'll see." He shrugged, "Tomorrow night we'll see."

As they sauntered around the corner of the building back to where the pitch was, Duncan caught sight of Heather, her back to him, lecturing Lindsay and Gwen about something which Gwen didn't care about and Lindsay didn't understand, judging in their facial expressions.

"What's up, girls?" Geoff called, quickening his pace to get closer.

Heather turned, and rolled her eyes, "As if, cowboy."

Geoff raised an eyebrow, "I don't get it…" Heather was about to retort when he continued "I just have an announcement to make."

"Don't you think Duncan should say it?" DJ asked, towering over Geoff from behind. Duncan smirked as Geoff's face fell, and Heather and Gwen looked at him expectantly.

"Huh?" Lindsay said, "What's going on?"

"Duncan's got some lazy, no-good scheme to tell us about." Gwen spat, not breaking eye contact with him.

"Please, that was a one time thing, Gwen you've got to let it go."

"That clown makeup didn't come off for a week, moron!"

"Okay, maybe I misled you for a harmless prank-"

"It was horrifying!"

"One, it was no worse than what you've got on now. Two, it was hilarious and everyone knows it."

"You're a dick," she said, turning away.

"Now, Bozo…"

"Don't call me clown names, shithead!"

"What's your thing, eh, Duncan?" DJ intervened, trying desperately to defuse the tension.

"I'm glad you asked DJ," Duncan said, bringing himself back on topic, "I am planning something. A party if you will. In the old house on the hill, tomorrow at 9:15. You're all invited, and may bring an extra if you're desperate to."

Heather folded her arms, "Alright. I'll check my schedule."

"Great, see you there," he replied, seeing through her bitchy retort, "Lindsay?"

"Oh, yeah, definitely. When's 9:15?"

"... We'll collect you from your house, alright?"

"Yay! Carpool!"

Duncan glanced sideways at Geoff, but quickly looked back at Gwen, "Pennywise?"

"I'll show up if you stop calling me clown names."

"Deal. You wouldn't want Trent to have fun without you anyway."

Gwen's normally pale white skin became tinged with red, as she averted her gaze to the ground.

"Alright. All set. Bring something fun, or drink. It's an exclusive party you know. All scrubs arriving without anything will be turned away." He joked, "Catch you later."

"Later," Heather waved him off, as DJ waved goodbye, following Duncan.

"Yeah, later guys," Geoff echoed, holding back a few seconds, before realising how far behind the other guys he was and hurrying to catch up.

"So, sounds like a party," DJ smiled as the guys walked along the road together.

"Sure does," Duncan smiled, "Meet me in the square tomorrow morning at like ten-ish and we'll go buy some shit for the night."

"Can do," Geoff said, "It's gonna be so cool tomorrow. Old house, cold night, drink, hot girls…"

"Easy there Geoff, it's not gonna be that type of party. Just a little get together. Y'know?"

"I getcha." He winked

"I don't think he gets ya," DJ offered.

"Neither do I." Duncan admitted, "No matter. This isn't about the girls anyway. It's about us, ennit? About how good a team we are, about how we're gonna win the league again, how about that?" Geoff whooped at this, "And it's about you big guy. You're gonna get your shot at proper football. Those scouts and everything? This is celebrating how you're gonna go off and how we all appreciate you, man. Team wouldn't be the same without you."

"Thanks dude," DJ blushed, "but wouldn't it make sense to do that after the season?"

"Where's the fun in that?" Duncan smirked.

"Plus you're gonna be getting trials very soon during the season anyway." Geoff piped up.

"Yeah, maybe," DJ mused, "Let's just enjoy every moment we have left together?"

"That's what I'm talking about!" Duncan yelled, "Every moment. Nothing wasted."

"Yeah, yeah, save your energy for tomorrow," DJ said, peeling away from the group towards his own house, "Ten tomorrow?"

"Ten tomorrow!" Duncan waved as DJ entered.

Geoff strolled alongside him, "This is gonna be awesome."

He grinned, "You're damn right it is."

Writer's Note

So this is what I've been working on for a while. I know, it's long and may be a little boring at times, but this is just the beginning. I'm planning a rather long story from this and all the CONSTRUCTIVE criticism I can get would be much appreciated. It's the first time I've actually written anything that's actually kinda long. So. I hope you've enjoyed the first chapter, review it and such. Please tell me what you thought of how I set out the match, because obviously there's gonna be some more and I wanna know what people think so I can make improvements to the presentation. Anyway thanks for your patience and your time (and maybe your opinions). Hopefully the other chapters won't be this long


	2. The Preparation

**The** **Preparation**

"So… Fuck, marry, kill… Britney, Mariah, Christina Aguilera." Geoff mused, plucking celebrities names from the deepest corners of his brain.

Duncan listened absentmindedly, one arm wrapped around a lamppost, and one foot atop its base as he leaned off of it, staring down the street, "C'mon, Deej, it's ten fifteen!"

"So?" Geoff asked, his hands in his pockets, looking down the street as well, cause it seemed everyone was doing it.

"Oh, yeah man… Uh… Kill Christina, fuck Britney, marry Mariah."

"Interesting…" Geoff pondered.

Before he could begin to ask what the hell Geoff meant, DJ turned the corner, and checked his watch. He clenched his fists and started jogging towards the two boys.

"Damn, man sorry I'm late. Didn't realise."

"No biggie," Duncan shrugged, "as long as we do it, doesn't matter when by, really."

DJ's face blanked for a second, before he shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, "Sorry man, I'm a little out of it today."

"Hey, big guy," Geoff attempted to put his arm around his shoulder, but ended up awkwardly draping it across his back, "it ain't a problem. We've got all day."

"For once, he's right." Duncan smirked

"Lay off," Geoff moaned, but found himself smiling along anyway.

"C'mon then, let's get started." DJ grinned, clapping his hands together.

"That's what I like to hear." Duncan said, hopping off the lamppost, "First, to Poundland!"

The three marched off together, Duncan in the middle and the others hovering either side, maybe a step behind him.

"So what were you guys talking about before I arrived?"

Geoff started to say something, but Duncan cut in before he had a chance "Geoff's got this new idea about choosing girls to-"

"Fuck, marry or kill!" Geoff blurted out.

DJ raised an eyebrow at Duncan, who shrugged. "So…" he asked, "how does this work?"

"Well," Geoff began excitedly, "someone says three girls, either famous or ones we know, and you choose one to fuck, one to marry and one to kill."

"Ah." DJ said. Duncan chuckled slightly.

"So for example," Geoff continued, obviously completely enraptured by the idea, "I could say Sandra Bullock, Jennifer Garner and Cameron Diaz and you would say…" Geoff paused, expecting an answer.

DJ stared blankly at him for a moment, as Geoff nodded his head slowly, mouth open, waiting. "Oh, me," he blurted, "I don't know, man, I don't wanna choose that stuff."

"Why not?" Geoff asked, hurt.

"I just think it's kinda disrespectful, y'know? I don't wanna kill any of them, and I don't really wanna… you know with any of them."

Duncan rolled his eyes, "C'mon, sure you do! You gotta find one of them hot."

"Well," DJ blushed, "I mean if I was forced to-"

"And you are." Duncan stated.

"I'd… Kill Sandra, um, f… Shag Cameron and marry Jennifer."

"Thank you, DJ." Duncan said, "That must've been very hard for you."

"Shag's such an ugly word man," DJ said under his breath.

"Ooh, ooh, this'll be fun!" Geoff said.

"Doubt it but continue." DJ teased.

"Whatever, how about Lindsay, Heather, or Gwen?"

"C'mon dude!" DJ moaned, taken aback.

"C'mon…" Duncan echoed.

"What? They're not gonna find out!" Geoff shrugged, as they started to turn onto the 'High Street' as it was known. It wasn't actually called the high street, but 'Copperfield Lane', which sounded stupid to many of the kids, so since it housed most of the few chain shops you could find scattered around, they started calling it the high street, as many other main roads seemed to be called just that. They rounded the corner and Geoff turned back to his friends and walked backwards, taking the lead. Duncan peered past him, staring down the road, looking for the Poundland sign that stuck out into the road. He caught sight of it, and as his eyes came back to Geoff, he noticed Heather, Gwen and Lindsay walking up to them. Gwen noticed him too, and rolled her eyes, nudging Heather, who was in the middle of scolding Lindsay for swinging around the bags she was carrying, accidentally whacking Heather in the shin with every step she took. Heather looked up and quickened her pace slightly, smiling devilishly, as she tended to do. "So…" Geoff continued, oblivious to the situation.

"I don't think we need to know, dude…" Duncan said assertively.

Duncan nudged DJ slightly, who looked up and saw Heather dragging Lindsay along by the wrist and Gwen stepping forward quickly, and his face paled. Geoff scoffed, "C'mon, don't get all hurt… I'd kill Gwen, marry Heather and-"

DJ clamped a giant, dark-skinned hand over Geoff's mouth. Geoff jumped in shock and glared at DJ, who rolled his eyes and twisted Geoff's head so he could see Gwen, Heather and Lindsay standing right behind him. Gwen had her arms crossed, her eyes fixed in a steely glare and was tapping her foot quickly and impatiently. The look Heather was giving Geoff could've killed a puppy.

"Hey guys!" Lindsay waved cheerily.

"Hey… Lindsay…" Duncan waved back slightly, never taking his eyes off of Geoff. Geoff himself had turned completely white, but still managed to raise his hand to Lindsay. DJ unclasped Geoff's head and took a long step back, taking Duncan with him.

Geoff stared at the floor for a moment, then looked up and said "Ladies…"

"What was that Geoff?" Heather snapped, arms folded and lips pursed.

"Yeah, come on Geoff? What was it?" Gwen seconded.

Lindsay looked between them, confused, and hurriedly crossed her arms too, "Yeah, Geoff."

"Oh, yeah, it was this new game I've been playing," Geoff started somewhat excited. Heather raised an eyebrow and leaned backwards, intrigued. DJ facepalmed. "Y'see," he continued enthusiastically, "you choose three people, either famous or ones you know, and you choose one to marry, one to kill and one to…" Gwen and Heather opened their eyes wide, waiting eagerly for the next word. Geoff gulped as all the passion in what he was talking about melted from his heart, "Make love to."

Duncan sighed, "Smooth, man."

Heather smirked, "Oh, right, You hear that Gwen? You choose one to marry, one to kill and one to _fuck_." She spat out the last word.

Gwen smirked too, and turned to Heather, using the same sarcastic tone, "Oh, I did Heather, and he said he'd kill me, and marry you."

Heather turned to Geoff, now shaking visibly. He turned around. DJ and Duncan were standing a solid three metres back. He swallowed. "Now, Geoff, who was the third?" She asked.

"Don't answer!" Duncan called.

"Shut up, Duncan!" Heather hissed. Duncan raised his arms in surrender.

"Uh… It was…" Geoff stuttered. His eyes glanced over at Lindsay, standing around so innocently and unaware.

Heather turned to Gwen, "Ah. I think I know."

Gwen grinned, "So, why don't we do it with these three?"

Heather smiled too, baring her perfectly white teeth in malice, "Oh, yeah, I think I'd choose," she pretended to ponder the question, "I'd kill Geoff, kill Geoff and kill Geoff."

"No, y'see that's not how it works," Geoff began.

"Shut the fuck up, Geoff!" Duncan called.

"Ooh, my turn," Gwen said, her voice dripping with mock enthusiasm, "I'd also kill Geoff, but I think I'd kill Geoff, and kill Geoff."

"I think we get it now, guys." DJ said, calmly, stepping forward and putting a reassuring hand on Geoff's shoulder. Geoff shrank into DJ's protection immediately, "He's had enough now, he's learned his lesson." Geoff nodded weakly in agreement.

Duncan stepped up too, his arms folded. He looked at Heather disapprovingly, who smiled sweetly at him. Duncan couldn't help but crack a smile at Heather trying to be cute, "But hey..." he said

"Duncan, no." DJ said sternly.

"No," Duncan said, "Lindsay didn't choose."

"Huh?" said Lindsay, perking up at the sound of her name like an obedient dog.

"Don't…" Heather said, but showing no real preference if Duncan did press the issue or not.

"Shag, marry, kill. Me, DJ, Geoff."

Lindsay thought for a minute, "Well… sorry Geoff but I think I'd kill you."

"Ha!" Heather practically screamed.

"Alright, that's enough," Gwen said, hurrying the other two girls passed the guys, Heather almost doubled over laughing, and Lindsay with her finger in the air confused.

"But I didn't get to finish…"

"Tell us at the party later!" Duncan called.

"Sure thing!" Gwen called back, "Now get lost, perverts!"

"See you there!" DJ waved, relieved.

"See you DJ!" Lindsay said, turning around, and just letting Gwen drag her down the street, "Bye Duncan!"

"Oh, Linds! Remember I'm picking you up from your house at nine o'clock tonight!" Duncan shouted.

"I'll try," Lindsay replied, giggling.

DJ and Duncan kept waving at Lindsay as she and the others walked past the corner and out of sight, as Geoff stood by, unable to move, his face pale. As soon as Lindsay was out of sight, the two boys turned to Geoff instantly, spinning on their heels. Duncan sighed, "Well, that was eventful."

"How was I supposed to know they were there?" Geoff said defensively.

"How about by not walking backwards?" Duncan offered.

"Or by not doing it at all?" DJ said.

"But I wanted to do it…" Geoff muttered weakly.

Duncan sighed and looked at DJ, the way a mother would look at a father over their disobedient kid, "How about we keep it to famous people?"

Geoff perked up slightly, "I can do that… Once you guys give me your answers."

"Not happening." DJ said sternly. Duncan nodded in approval.

"Aww, c'mon!" Geoff whinged, "I did it."  
"And that's your decision and you stick with it. I don't care for this." DJ stated, ending the conversation.

"How about we just move on to Poundland? We've got a good couple of stores to hit beforehand. And I'm sure we all want extra time to get ready." Duncan suggested, defusing the situation.

"Alright," Geoff said, all tensions removed, "what do we need to get?"

"Well," Duncan breathed, relieved, "I was thinking we grab torches and batteries, for one, and see if there's anything else useful we can find. You know, time-killers, maybe heated blankets, sleeping bags, candles-"

"Candles?" Geoff exclaimed, laughing.

"Candles, dude?" DJ also said, chuckling to himself.

"For atmosphere, guys! Not like scented ones, but just big ones for ghost stories and shit, you know?"

"Okay, okay," DJ said, smiling still, "we'll look out for torches and stuff, and nice little candles. What do you think Geoff, smell like cinnamon, vanilla or strawberry?" Geoff nearly fell over laughing.

"C'mon, guys, I can always take back your invites." Duncan threatened.

"Sure, sure," DJ waved off the idea, "let's have a look around."

So, together, the three friends strode into the shop, joking around at Duncan's expense.

"How about…" DJ mused, staring at the object he held in his hand, "Bop it! Huh…" He pressed the button in the middle. It immediately started up and began blaring noise throughout the shop.

"Twist it!" It yelled.

"Uh…" DJ squeaked, his face turning bright red.

"You win…" The _Bop-it_ said.

"Oh neat," DJ began before the machine interrupted with a sarcastic and obnoxious "Not!"

"Oh…" he said, and dropped the toy back in the bucket he fished it out of.

"So not that?" Duncan asked, waving an apology to the shopkeeper. DJ shook his head vigorously.

"Well, that may be a bust but we did find a torch and a big pack of batteries. For some reason, they don't sell sleeping bags," he shrugged, "but whatever, the blankets will do. Plus, Geoff fell in love with that dancing robot."

DJ peered round the corner to Geoff, who was sitting in the back of the shop, his head resting on his hands, watching the little white man step around and occasionally make beeps and other noises. He sat there, content, grinning like an idiot, completely unaware of his surroundings. "I worry sometimes, man…" DJ shook his head.

"I mean," Duncan glanced around shiftily, "he's got that thing… I think."

"You think? You think what?"

"Like developmental problems, you know? With his dad and all."

"Look, dude, none of us want to talk about that…"

Duncan waved the notion off, "I know, I know. I worry too, surprisingly enough." DJ blinked once. "I do! I know how I come off but you guys are my best friends. I'm allowed to care about you guys. Anyway, without us he would've been ran over long ago."

DJ shook his head again, "I don't know man. He's good with people."

"Yeah, he fits in and all, but-"

Geoff looked up and spotted his two friends, and waved. DJ waved back, and Duncan raised one hand in acknowledgement. Geoff began to get up, and Duncan rolled his eyes, turning so Geoff couldn't see him, "But we aren't his parents."

DJ just nodded. Geoff came up to the two of them, "So, we ready to leave?"

"Did you pay for that?" DJ asked, and Geoff nodded in reply, "Then I guess we're ready to leave."

"Did you find any candles, Duncan?" Geoff asked. Duncan raised his bag and tapped the side of his nose. Geoff grinned, "So we'll find out later?" Duncan nodded and grinned.

"Cool, guys." DJ said, "We got anywhere else to go D?"

Duncan looked down at the watch on his wrist. "Well, just one more stop…"

"Well?" DJ rolled his eyes.

"What's the most important part of any party?"

"Friendship," DJ said, his voice dripping with sarcasm as they left the store.

Geoff punched his arm in jest, "No, dude. Booze!"

"Geoff's got it." Duncan laughed, "So our one last stop happens to be an off-licence."

"Alright then." DJ sighed, "I don't drink though."

"Whatever," Duncan brushed it off, "You probably will."

"I won't." DJ said sternly, "And that's final."

Duncan raised his arms in forfeit, and led the boys on their last trip of the day.

"So… What scent of candle did you get?" Geoff asked.

[Half an hour later]

"Here it is, boys." Duncan said, as they arrived outside of the shop, a small, white store in the middle of a small terraced complex.

"Oooh." Geoff said in admiration.

"Looks a little shady…" DJ mused. And he wasn't wrong. The paint was peeling along much of the shopfront and one of the windows sported a spiderweb of cracks. The only indication the building was even in use was the sign above that read 'Dave's Drinks'.

"Don't worry about it," Duncan dismissed his worries, "I know Dave. This'll be easy. Now, can we decide what we want before we get to the front of the queue?"

"Vodka." Geoff said, quickly.

"Alright, we'll get two bottles of vodka… Deej?"

"No."

"Fine. I reckon, bottles of beer? 24 pack? Sure." Duncan was basically talking to himself as he entered the store. DJ shrugged at Geoff, and they followed him.

"Hey, Dave!" Duncan announced, as he strolled up to the counter.

"What do you want, Juvie?" Dave asked, gruff and unapologetic. He was a round man, standing at around 6'3", with short, thinning, grey hair and a copious amount of sharp stubble. His eyelids drooped and he seemed like he could nod off at any point. He lay two thick arms like tree trunks on his counter, clearly showing a tattoo of a snake wrapped around his left forearm. He wore a football shirt and looked every part the man you'd see down at the ground, or in a pub nearby. And it wasn't in any doubt that Dave had been in his fair share of fights and football-related riots. He stared across at Duncan, letting up no ground to Duncan's physical attempts to install enough confidence in him to walk out the shop with enough alcohol to kill him.

"Witty as always, my man." Duncan smiled, oozing confidence, "I'd like two bottles of vodka, and a 24-pack of beer."

Dave was silent for a moment, his face expressionless. "I don't think so." He said finally.

Duncan stepped back, offended, "What? Why?"

"You're underage, Duncan. I can't. You know. Legally."

"That hasn't stopped you before."

"Yeah, I know, but now your old man's breathing down my neck. I can't risk anything." he showed his palms in resignation. "If he finds out I've been supporting this, I'm done for mate. Plus, you'd have to be a little more specific with your drinks."

"Fine, Smirnoff and Carling."

"Better. Still not serving you."

"Come on, Dave." Duncan whined, looking back at his friends. DJ shrugged, perhaps secretly happy, but Duncan got an idea. "What if," he turned back to Dave, "you didn't sell to me."

"I'm listening," Dave smiled, leaning in.

"My friend DJ over there is clearly 18." Dave looked at him, up and down, sizing him up.

"Yeah I guess so," Dave nodded. DJ shook his head violently at Duncan, but neither he nor Dave seemed to notice.

"So, if my friend here was to purchase the drinks, while myself and Geoff were not present, you could have peace of mind, correct?"

Dave nodded, "Of course. Just this man here, never saw you two."

"Glad we came to an agreement," Duncan smiled, "DJ." he turned, grinning apologetically to DJ, who glared daggers at him, "Why don't you pay, while Geoff and I discuss something outside."

DJ didn't stop glaring, but still walked up to the counter, as Duncan slid him the money slyly. "Two bottles of Smirnoff and a 24-pack of Carling, please." He said, as Duncan and Geoff left, sniggering among themselves.

"Wow, mate, sounds like a party," Dave said cheerily, initiating friendly conversation, as he would with any customer.

"You could say that." DJ answered.

"Some heavy stuff. Quality too," Dave contemplated, "Don't get too drunk."

"I promise I won't." DJ smiled, "Thank you."

Dave smiled again, and handed over a bag which contained two bottles of the vodka, and also a large box with a handle for the beer. "Pleasure doing business with you. Oh, and are you one of Duncan's mates?"

"I guess, seen him about a little I guess," DJ played along.

"Well, if you see him tell me he owes me one," Dave grinned, showing dirty, unbrushed teeth.

"Oh, I'll definitely do that. Cheers, bye."

"See ya!" Dave said, watching the boy leave, before sitting back on his stool, smiling silently to himself.

"So?" Duncan said, as DJ left, before eyeing the bag and box, and smiling evilly.

"You owe Dave one, and you owe me one." DJ said sternly.

"Yeah, yeah, sure no problem," Duncan said, "so is tonight gonna be the best or what?"

"Woo!" shouted Geoff, which meant yes.

Duncan grinned at this, and turned to DJ, who couldn't help himself, and smiled back, "Yes it will."

"Perfect, so, Geoff, you take the drinks?"

"Why me?" he moaned.

"Cause my dad won't allow this, and there's no way DJ's mom's letting him anywhere near the house with any alcohol whatsoever."

DJ nodded, "She'd kill me."

"Alright, alright. I'll put it in my car."

"Ew, dude don't let it get warm," Duncan crinkled up his face.

"No, no, dude, it's alright, I've got one of those coolboxes."

"Nice," Duncan said, somewhat impressed at Geoff's initiative.

"Alright," DJ clapped his hands together, before passing the drinks over to Geoff, "I'll see you guys at the old house. 9 was it?"

"Well, 9:15, but whatever." Duncan shrugged.

"Great, see you guys there." Geoff said, "Oh, wait, do you guys wanna like do something beforehand? Like get there early to set up?"

"Oh, no, sorry man, I've got to pick up Lindsay and… someone else." Duncan said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oooh," Geoff cooed, excited, "Alright, Deej and I won't get in the way of that." he giggled like a little girl.

"Seriously, man?" DJ said, while still laughing to himself. "Alright, no problem Duncan. I'll get there a little early, let people in, set up whatever. You in, Geoff?" Geoff nodded. "Alright."

"See you guys there," Duncan said, leaving. "Gotta go get ready! Later."

"Oooh," Geoff said again. DJ hit him lightly on the shoulder. "Ow," he whined, jokingly, and they set off in the same direction together, as Duncan left the pair to do as he said. Get ready.

8:45.

Duncan stood in his bathroom, looking in the mirror, touching up his mohawk. He hadn't done anything to it, but it felt like the kind of thing he should do. And he needed an excuse to hide from his dad so he could sneak out. And, okay, maybe he was a little nervous about picking up Zoey. Not because of her, but because of their situation. Well, the fact that her boyfriend, well, existed for one, but also played for the team they had recently battered 7-1. It would be an awkward encounter. Probably. He kept thinking this over, checking his watch, then wasting more time. Could he just not take her? No, he couldn't just leave her. Could he call her and rescind her invite? No, what if she was getting ready, told her boyfriend she had plans, or anything. No, this was something that had to happen. He looked down at himself and breathed. He had changed his clothes to be fair to him. He was wearing a black leather jacket, covered in metal bits and pieces, chains and zips and the like, protruding from the jacket's many pockets, and studs along the shoulders and arms. It was stylish, in a punk way. Beneath was a faded, pure maroon t-shirt, and black skinny jeans, with yet more chains in the pockets. He wore black converse trainers, completing the punk aesthetic. He didn't think he looked too bad. Suited him. Brought out the blue in his eyes. He took another deep breath, and looked toward the bathroom window. He stepped out onto the roof of his garage, making sure he flicked the bathroom light off first. Honestly, his dad finding out about his excursion was the least of his worries. He could deal with the consequences. His dad wasn't about to ruin tonight.

He hopped down, opening the door in as close to silence as he could get. He gazed into the dark garage and took a moment to appreciate the night. It was cold. He thought. Not cold, but maybe a bit nippy. A chill wind blew through, lifting his jacket ends slightly. Maybe a little cold. He started towards the car, and got one of the doors open, before he remembered something important. He grabbed the cone from the back of the garage and quickly shoved it onto the backseat, before clambering in the driver's seat, and driving off slowly into the night, so as not to arouse suspicion.

When he arrived at the statue, his watch showed 8:57, and Zoey was nowhere to be seen. He parked the car and left the headlights on, so she would know he was there if she showed up late. He eyed the statue, and hopped out with the cone. Just then, someone walked by, and he jumped, stuffing the cone on the floor behind him, between himself and the car. They saw him, and he gave a mocking salute. They quickened their step. As soon as they were out of sight, Duncan doubled over, laughing. As he came up, he wiped a tear from his eye, and checked his watch again, impatiently. "Ahem." came a cough from behind him, on the opposite side of the car. He flinched slightly. Who could it be? His dad? The mayor? God anyone could've found out about tonight. Then he remembered why he was here.

"Oh." he said, beginning to turn, "Zo." he finished, before he saw her. He was right of course. She stood there, wrapped up against the cold. He studied her for a second. She was wearing fairly heavy duty makeup. A lot of smokey eye, blush along her cheeks, overly whitened foundation and bright red lipstick. She was wrapped up in a large hoodie, but underneath she was wearing a red tank top, an almost transparent black vest on top of it and a black skirt with black tights, and heavy, black boots. On her arms were black fishnet gloves that went all the way up to her elbows and a whole lot of bracelets, at least five on each arm, not that Duncan could be bothered to count. The pink flower she had worn in her hair the other day was replaced by a black one, partnered with a black headband. Her hair was cleared from her face, stuck back through, what seemed to Duncan, sheer power of will. "Wow…" he muttered.

She seemed to shrink into herself, "Can we just go?"

"Why the hurry?" he asked, all semblance of worry gone from his demeanour.

"I don't want to talk."

"Whatever. One quick thing, though." He picked up the cone and sprinted towards the statue. Zoey was left alone with the hum of the car as he ran off. She regretted ever having come here. Well, that's what she told herself she wanted. Whether she actually felt that way was another matter. She'd gotten dressed up specifically for this. The amount of magazines she'd bought to perfect the idea and the look, the amount of small shops she'd had to visit to collect the ensemble, the amount of time she'd spent doing and redoing the makeup. There seemed to be a reaction, but she wasn't sure if it was what she wanted. It was a thrill, meeting up with the 'bad boy' who her boyfriend had spent ages telling her he hated that night. Mike had been on edge for a while, and escaping from him to have a wild night with people she didn't know was just so exciting. Now she was having second thoughts. 'Of course I am' she kept criticizing herself. She had always been like this, scared to leave her comfort zone, and now she has a brand new set of people for a brand new experience, and she was chickening out.

"So," Duncan's voice broke her self-hatred, "we ready to go now?" he asked, swinging behind the wheel. She glanced up at the statue, and was immediately struck by the cone that now sat atop its head.

"You… You did that?"

He barked out laughter, "Yeah, yeah I did. Now hop in before anyone sees you. Last time I tried the mayor had stuck a guard on duty."

"The last time?" She stammered, daintily climbing into the passenger seat and buckling her seatbelt.

He turned to her and grinned, "Yeah. Long story. Let's just drive for now." And with that, they took off.

"Mind if I smoke?" He asked, holding out a box of cigarettes, one hand on the wheel, and no eyes on the road.

"If it doesn't affect your driving, sure." She replied, somewhat passive-aggressively, not meeting his gaze, just looking out her window, as houses and lights sped past them. He shrugged and lit one up, cracking the window so he could blow out the smoke so she wouldn't be affected. He wanted to seem tough, but also didn't want to offend her. Or hurt her or anything. They drove in silence for a few more moments. Duncan reached over to turn on the radio, and a harsh rock beat began playing. "Why did you invite me?" she asked.

Duncan sighed and turned off the radio, "Why did you only ask when I'd put the music on?"

"Answer my question."

"I…" he paused. He thought about it. Mostly, maybe, he'd wanted to get back at Mike. I mean, he seemed to be a total prick. This was the perfect revenge, wasn't it? Duncan wasn't the type to steal someone else's girl, no, that would be the exact type of behaviour he was demonstrating against. Maybe, but that definitely wasn't the whole reason, and maybe he didn't even know the whole reason. She was pretty. Obviously. Not his type but still. And she was clearly very sweet, forgiving and caring, but a bit of a pushover. She had gotten all dressed up for tonight. And the fact that she had came at all showed a bit of free will. Maybe it was good to get her away from Mike. Yeah, maybe that was the reason. This was the right thing to do. Break her out of her under-the-thumb life. But that wouldn't be true. His motivations were more selfish than that. This was all about him, as everything tended to be in his life, at least as he saw it. In that moment, as she stared at him, her wide eyes full of wonder glistening, he hated her. He hated her attitude and the fact that she seemed to be rebelling against him, even as he tried to be nice to her. That she looked through him and didn't like what she thought she saw. He hated Mike too. For oppressing this little girl. To him, he seemed to be the controlling factor in her life. Like he had brainwashed her into doing whatever for him. He hated his stupid face, and his dickhead attitude and his asshole life. This boy didn't know what he had. But, through it all, mostly, he hated himself. Maybe he was intruding, maybe this was a loving relationship. Maybe he was the asshole, shoving himself between them, taking the girl away from her man and being a selfish dick about it the whole time. Only an absolute twat would do something like that. He sighed, "I… You seemed like you could use the night off."

"That's a lie."

"No, no it isn't!" he defended himself vehemently, "It's at least partly the truth. It's- it's part of the truth."

"What's the whole truth?" she asked meekly, though coming out of her shell a little.

"Maybe I don't know!" he snapped, sending her right back into her pity party of a shell. A pang of guilt swept through him. "I'm- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to… I just…" he looked at her and their eyes met for a second before she looked away again, "I… Mike just seemed like an asshole, you know?"

She perked up at his name, "And what would you know about Mike?"

"I don't need to know anything about Mike, cause I know a lot about assholes, and he was acting like one."

"He's not like that."

"And his girlfriend isn't biased at all in that area."

"I'm his girlfriend because I know he's not an asshole."

"Well, you know Stockholm syndrome, and some people are just blinded from these things."

"I'm not."

"Sure." he gave up, "Whatever."

They kept driving in a stony silence until they passed the old house, "That's it." Duncan pointed out.

"So, why aren't we stopping?" she asked.

He checked his watch. 9:06. "We've got someone else to pick up." he took a drag from the cigarette.

"Who?" she asked. He didn't answer. He just kept driving.

When they arrived at Lindsay's house, he opened the door and stepped out. As Zoey went to undo her belt, he gestured for her to stay, "No, don't bother."

She pouted, and crossed her arms, but stayed put, as he walked up to the door. He rapped on the knocker twice, and heard a fumbling inside as she stumbled over herself to get to the door. When she opened it, his eyes went wide, and he was taken aback. 'Damn' he thought.

She was wearing a scarlet tube top that showed off her cleavage and showed a generous portion of her midriff. She was wearing tight jeans that clearly allowed no room to breathe and finished about two inches above her ankles and her fancy rose-coloured flat shoes with open toes. But makeup was where Lindsay really shone, if she didn't already when it came to fashion choices. She had blue eyeshadow and accentuated, lengthened eyelashes, to go along with rosy cheeks and super-glossy brick-red lips. Her hair, usually straight was wavy and held back with a red bandana. "You look good Lindsay…" Duncan managed to say, somehow.

"Aww, thanks Dunky!" She squealed and hugged him. He hesitated for a split-second, then hugged her back.

"No problem." he smiled. Zoey pretended to gag in the car.

"So, should we get going?" he asked.

"Sure," she said, "I'll just get my things."

"Don't be too long." he smiled, checking his watch again, almost compulsively now. 9:10. They had time.

He turned to Zoey in the car and shrugged. He leaned back in to grab the pack of cigarettes, still standing outside, "She'll just be a minute. Grabbing her bag." Zoey just rolled her eyes.

Very quickly, Lindsay emerged from the house with a small handbag, matching her top. She waved at Duncan, who quickly removed the cigarette from his mouth and stomped it out on the ground. She pouted and turned and locked the door. She strode up to him and lightly hit him with her bag, "Duncan," she said, almost whining, "I told you I don't like it when you do that."

"I know, I know, Linds. Sorry. I won't do it again tonight."

She seemed to brighten up at this and gently placed a hand on his shoulder, feeling the jacket's studs, "Ooh, shiny," she cooed, then gathering her senses again, "I call shotgun!"

"Sorry Linds, I've already got a passenger."

"Oh," she looked across at Zoey, "OMG, like, hi! I saw you at the game didn't I! Wow you look different that's so cute. I love your hair."

Zoey blushed, "Oh… thank you," she accepted the compliment weakly, and Lindsay slid into the back, leaning in between Zoey and Duncan, as he sat down and started the engine again.

"OMG you guys look too cute." Lindsay squealed.

"Oh we're not," they both clamoured to explain.

"She's not… she's got..."

"I have…And he's…"

Lindsay just giggled, "I gettit," she winked. Duncan guessed she didn't get it.

He glanced at his watch again as they set off. Lindsay stroked his shoulder, feeling all the individual studs and grasping at a chain occasionally. Duncan smiled and let it slide. He looked over at Zoey, who quickly turned away to look out the window. 'She's jealous' he thought. And with that he smiled even more.

"Alright here we are girls," he exclaimed, coming to a stop outside the house. 9:18. They were late. Nothing like being fashionably late though.

"Oh, thanks Dunky," Lindsay said, hopping out.

"Yeah, thanks Dunky," Zoey said, mocking, smiling despite herself.

Duncan raised his eyebrows and smiled back, "Oh, you think you get to call me by a nickname? Now way, Zo!"

She giggled at this, letting her guard down, "Hey, you think you get to give me one?"

"At least I'm not copying Lindsay."

"Hey, I bet I can come up with a decent nickname!"

"Okay," he grinned, "bet you can't by the end of the night!"

"Well I bet I can."

"Alright then. Come back to me in the morning. Bet I can come up with a better one for you."

"Oh you are on!" she squealed with laughter, getting out the car, where Lindsay stood, watching them with fascination. Zoey immediately blushed.

"Alright," Duncan said, stepping out and putting an arm around Lindsay. He turned to the house and saw lights flickering through the windows, as a shout went out, "Seems they've started the party without us."

"Aw, boo!" Lindsay said.

"Time to give our adoring fans an entrance," he smiled again, offering Zoey to go ahead of them. She smiled back. Maybe it was the night and the euphoria of being around people, maybe it was breaking her own rules and being away from Mike, or maybe it was him, but something was forcing her to open up. And she was loving it.

"Onwards my friends," Duncan called, "to the party!"

Writer's Note

Okay sorry it's been a while since the last chapter, but I haven't had much time and I don't really have an excuse but I just wanna say I'm sorry to keep anyone waiting. As always, constructive criticism is appreciated or just any general comments on the story. I'm having a lot of fun with it, and more characters' points of view are gonna be explored very soon. Have fun!


	3. The Party

**The** **Party**

"What's up guys!" Duncan yelled, bursting open the doors to the old house. Everyone else was sitting in a circle, cross-legged, and slowly turned to see him, non-reactionary.

"Oh… Hi Duncan…" Heather waved his entrance away.

I get it, he thought. Act like they don't care. Hilarious. Probably Geoff's idea. He sighed, "And I brought Lindsay…" he weakly stepped back to allow her to enter. Suddenly the room burst into life, as Heather and Gwen leapt up to greet and hug Lindsay, and everyone else waved from the circle. Duncan scanned the faces present. Everyone he'd invited. He caught Geoff's eye, who was grinning ear to ear. Geoff doubled over laughing, and elbowed DJ, who rolled his eyes. Yep. Ignoring him was certainly Geoff's idea. He turned to Lindsay, where Gwen and Heather were still greeting her, cooing over her outfit and hugging her over and over. Gwen subtly flicked Duncan the finger. Duncan rolled his eyes and turned back to circle.

There, he noticed someone who certainly hadn't been invited. He grabbed Gwen's arm and pulled her off of Lindsay, "And what the fuck is Cody doing here?" He whispered, accusingly

"What?" She hissed back, "You said I could bring a friend."  
"I was thinking a girl, you know? Or someone we can all tolerate. Not fucking Cody."

"Okay, fine," Gwen snapped, "I didn't want to take him but the little shit just followed me, you know how he is."

Duncan considered this, "Has he told anyone else?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm fucking sure Duncan. And he's not gonna."

"You know he will at some poi-"

"Ahem!" DJ cleared his throat loudly from across the room. Duncan and Gwen jerked their heads round, where everyone was staring. Trent was standing next to DJ, his hand on his shoulder, his face white as a sheet. Duncan rolled his eyes and sighed passive aggressively. That was one time, Trent. He then turned suddenly to stare down Cody, who jumped and shrank into himself. Duncan scowled and let go of Gwen's arm.

"So now we know everyone here…"

"Is that my cue to enter?" Zoey asked from behind Duncan, nervously shuffling in.

"Well I wasn't gonna-" Duncan began.

"And who's this?" Heather asked loudly.

"You give me shit for bringing Cody, and you bring… I don't even know her name!" Gwen crossed her arms.

"H-he did?" Cody squeaked, somewhat hurt.

Duncan whipped his head back round to him, and Cody flinched again, and scrambled to the bathroom. Grinning, he looked back to the girls, who stood around, waiting for an explanation, "This," he gestured to Zoey, who had shrunk back behind Duncan, holding onto the ends of her sleeves as if they'd fall off if she let go, "is Zoey."

"Hi…" she whispered, waving slightly. Gwen and Heather brushed her off with a flick of the wrist, Lindsay waved enthusiastically, and DJ and Geoff smiled sheepishly at her from the back of the room.

"And what is she doing here?" Heather asked.

"I invited her." Duncan stated, trying to end the conversation without going into any kind of detail, "Come on Zoey, let's join the others."

Almost clinging to Duncan's back, Zoey shuffled, eyes down, into the circle of people, and as Duncan sat down and crossed his legs, she sat between him and Bridgette, who tried to catch her attention. When Zoey finally looked up, Bridgette smiled warmly, eliciting a small curl at the corners of Zoey's lips, and she sat back, more comfortable.

Duncan looked at Heather expectantly, who was still stood in the doorway with Gwen and Lindsay. DJ and Geoff, along with Trent quietly sat back down into the circle. Cody poked his head out of the bathroom, before slowly creeping back into the room and sitting the other side of Bridgette. "Ugh, whatever." Heather threw her hands in the air, and sat down, with Gwen and Lindsay following her, sitting either side.

Duncan smiled and looked around one more time. He'd missed someone. "Wait," he said, "where's Courtney?"

"Took you long enough to notice," came the recognisably smug voice from the doorway. Everyone turned, and sure enough, there stood Courtney. She had ditched her typical, bookish, conservative clothes, and had adopted a much fancier style. She wore a flowing light pink halter top and denim short shorts, showing off her tan legs. On her feet were black, strapped stilettos, and no socks. Her makeup emphasised her large eyes, with coral blue eyeshadow and thick black eyeliner, and also incredibly light, yet certainly noticeable, orange lipstick. Her hair had been transformed into a tight bun, except for two small sections that were allowed to hang down over her ears, framing her face.

"I assume your excuse for being late is you spent too long on your makeup?" Duncan said, half-joking, pretending to be unbothered, but ultimately slightly angry, and very impressed with how she looked.

Courtney pouted, but ignored him, "So," she shut the door and placed one hand on the doorframe, "what's going on?" She bit her lip slightly, and when Duncan didn't look up from trying to open the vodka bottle on the floor, she surveyed the rest of the room. The girl from the game was right next to Duncan, also fascinated with his attempts to accomplish the terribly hard task of turning the bottle lid, but at least Bridgette sat smiling at her. Cody was gazing across the room at Gwen and Trent having their own conversation, and DJ got up to help Duncan. Geoff's mouth hung open, and Courtney swore she began to see him drool. At least someone appreciated the effort she had put in, even if it was the wrong guy, the resident pervert at that. Her eye twitched slightly. The first party she'd been invited to in a long while, and no one noticed her, well aside from Geoff. And she was sure to make a grand entrance too. Truthfully, she'd tried exceptionally hard on her look that night, and had arrived a full half hour before everyone else. When she heard Geoff arrive with DJ and Bridgette, she'd quickly left the house and hid. She didn't need to be known as the girl who arrived to parties half an hour early, when not even the hosts were there. That wasn't cool. She hid round the back of the house until she heard Duncan pull up. She heard him joking with Lindsay, and a voice she just barely recognised. And while she was trying to place the voice, he'd already entered. She cursed herself, and stormed round to the front entrance, desperately trying to place the voice. Was it from training? An interview? The game? Yes! She fist pumped having figured it out, and from inside, caught a snippet of conversation: "Where's Courtney." And she opened the door. Perfect.

But there are no perfect plans, apparently. Maybe she was doomed to this. She sat down next to Lindsay, as Duncan waved DJ off, saying he didn't need help with the bottle. She felt cold inside, but maybe standing outside for half an hour didn't help her staying warm on the outside either. She stared blankly across the room until: "OMG Courtney?"

"Huh? Oh, Lindsay?"

"That is such a cute outfit," Lindsay gushed.

"Oh, yeah, thanks." Courtney said, bitchily. She didn't mean it to come out bitchy, but it did. As it tended to with her, and especially her when she felt ignored, unwanted, useless…

"Got it!" Duncan shouted, breaking Courtney out of her funk. And, sure enough, the bottle had been opened.

"Finally!" Heather exclaimed, "Pass it around."

"Hold on," Duncan smirked in the way he was wont to do, "everyone got a cup?" Everyone that wanted a drink, waved a cup in the air. Courtney perked up and reached into the centre, where the disposable cups lay. She grabbed one and hauled it over her head too. In total, Geoff, Trent, Gwen, Heather, Lindsay, and Courtney held cups in the air, and, obviously, Duncan had his too. He turned to Zoey and Bridgette, offering them some. They looked at each other and shrugged, both picking a cup up from the centre.

Slowly, Duncan made the rounds, pouring some of the drink into everyone's cup, leaving DJ and Cody as the only two attendees without any alcohol.

"Bottoms up!" he said, raising his cup as he got back into his spot in the circle. They all tossed it back. All but Duncan and Heather gagged. "Wusses." Duncan grinned. Heather smiled back devilishly.

One hour and one and half bottles of vodka, the party was in full swing. Duncan and Geoff sat beside each other, one arm around the other's shoulder, while Zoey swayed woozily on Duncan's other side. Heather and Gwen sat opposite, giggling and laughing with each other, occasionally shouting curses and abuse at the boys. Lindsay was dancing around in the centre, as Trent drunkenly strummed on his guitar, occasionally hitting what sounded like an actual note. DJ stood by the wall, watching, while Cody, who had sneaked himself a beer or two, sat at his feet. Courtney and Bridgette filled out the rest of the circle, clapping along to the 'music'. It had begun innocently enough, with Duncan breaking out a pack of cards, and they all began to play poker. The winner of each hand was allowed to have another shot. And when Duncan and Courtney won almost every game, it was switched to blackjack. Soon, Duncan was too drunk to win, and the drink began to be passed around more. Soon, to make sure Geoff actually had something to drink, it was switched to go fish, and finally to snap, so Lindsay could have some. Soon, many were too wasted to even hold their cards, and DJ took them away, as well as managing who had any more to drink. Then, Trent had somehow managed to pick up his guitar without breaking it, and began to play it. Then, in a drunken mistake DJ would have a lot of fun reminding them of the next day, many of them had gotten up and made requests, singing their favourite songs, dancing around, and, his favourite, Geoff actually trying to play the guitar. DJ smiled. This was nice. He didn't need to have alcohol, and he didn't want to drink anyway, but if they did, hey, no skin off his nose. He looked down at Cody at his feet, sitting with his knees up to his chest, and holding a half-drunk beer, gazing longingly at the group. In the end, DJ did feel sorry for him. Sure, maybe he was a bit too forward with Gwen, a little stalker-ish, with a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and being exactly where no one wanted him… Okay, maybe he was a bit of a creep towards her, but he had good intentions, right?

"Why didn't you have any vodka?" he asked.

Cody shrugged, "Why didn't you?"

"I don't drink."

"Oh… Yeah…"

It was quiet between them for a second, despite the noise emanating from the group in the middle of the room, who had now moved on to playing Duck, Duck, Goose. Or at least it seemed Lindsay had.

"So?"

"Oh, yeah…" Cody blinked, "I didn't want to… Duncan wouldn't have let me."

"Probably not. He didn't know you were coming."

"Gwen invited me."

"You tagged along," DJ said, his voice firm but warm.

"Yeah… I did, but… He said guests were allowed…"

"Yes…" DJ pondered for a minute, "He definitely wouldn't have let you have any."

"Heh… Anyway, I get wasted after, like, three beers," Cody said, waving his second one in the air.

"I can see…" DJ chuckled. "Do you want some?"

"Huh?"

"Vodka. Want a shot?"

"P-please."

"Give me a minute." DJ picked up the bottle he was hiding behind him, and stepped over into the circle to grab a cup.

"Ayyy…" Duncan slurred, his body flopping around unintentionally, "Big Deej's getting a DRINK!"

"Wahey!" Geoff echoed, Lindsay now sitting on his lap after he caught her during her short-lived game of Duck, Duck, Goose.

DJ casually waved them off, "Sure, guys. What are you doing now?"

"Ooh, ooh, ooh…" Zoey started, reaching forward and almost tipping herself over, "Heh… We… We should play Spin the Bottle!"

"Oooh, yeah!" Courtney agreed, nodding so violently it looked to DJ as if her head were about to fall off, "We should…" she echoed, batting her eyelids at Duncan.

Duncan shrugged, "Yeah… Imma just…" he paused, "Get the bottle…" he swung up, almost falling, and stumbled into the kitchen to fetch it.

DJ smiled slightly. They were about to make some big mistakes. He strode back to Cody and poured him a shot. Cody's eyes widened, and he downed what was left of his beer, before attempting to down the vodka, but choking up and coughing into the cup.

"Hey, dude," DJ said, laying a big hand on Cody's shoulder. Cody looked up into his eyes, spluttering slightly, "First, drink that, as slowly as you need to. Then, go join the circle. Play along. Have fun. Don't make too many mistakes."

Cody nodded vigorously, "Th-thanks DJ." He sipped it slightly, making his way through it, and becoming visibly worse off with every drop that hit his lips. Duncan then staggered back into the room, brandishing the bottle.

"I have retrieved it!" he announced. Geoff whooped, and many of the others cheered. Heather clapped along, laughing. Cody downed the little remaining alcohol, and stood up, too quickly. He tripped, just catching himself, and stumbled into the circle, almost bumping into Duncan. Duncan looked at him, and blinked. Once. Twice. "Hey Cody…" he eventually managed, "Fuck you!" he cackled, before returning to ignoring him, and taking back his seat. Cody breathed out, relieved. Maybe he was becoming cool? At least tolerable? This was certainly a win for Cody.

"So, ladies, and Trent," Duncan began, before turning to Geoff, who took a few seconds, before eventually realising, and muttering an indignant, "Hey…"

Duncan smiled, "This… Is spin the bottle." Zoey clapped. "The game is, you spin the bottle, and whoever the bottleneck is pointing at," he haphazardly pointed out the neck, "the spinner has to kiss."

"Oooh," Bridgette cooed. Gwen nudged Heather and they both fell into a fit of giggles.

Undeterred, Duncan continued, "I shall go first!" Dramatically, he placed the bottle in the centre of the circle, and span it. Round, and round it went before finally landing on… Lindsay.

"Pucker up, Dunky." Lindsay said, flirtatiously crawling her way into the centre of the circle. Duncan grinned, and crawled forward to meet her in the middle. Their lips met, and the circle made a collective "Oooh." Duncan flipped his middle finger to no one in particular. They broke the kiss, but for a second, they lingered with their faces barely an inch apart. Lindsay smirked and raised an eyebrow, and Duncan did the same. It seemed they were about to go in for another, before Geoff cleared his throat, and they both blinked back into reality, smiling sheepishly at each other, and crawling back.

"I think… I think I'll go next…" Geoff started, reaching to grab the bottle.

"Nuh-uh!" Heather screeched, beating Geoff to the bottle, "My turn."

Geoff shrank back into himself, even if he was enjoying this more than a little, "Go ahead."  
"Ugh," said Heather, spinning the bottle, which landed on… Cody. "What? No. Redo!" Heather said, frantic.

"Me?" Cody said, ecstatic.

"No do-overs Heather!" Duncan mocked, "Kiss the nerd! Kiss the nerd!

Heather glared back at him, but, determined not to crack under the pressure, she got up, and walked up to Cody, lifting him off the floor, "Prepare for the greatest moment of your life." she said, icily, before kissing him. Cody's eyes went wide for a split-second before he quickly relaxed into it. But it was over just as quickly as it began, and Heather dropped him, limp, onto the floor, "Done. Happy Duncan?" As she turned she noticed the phone he was holding, and Geoff leaning over his shoulder, giggling like a maniac. "Oh, no! Delete the picture! Now!"

Duncan shook his head, smiling, "No chance. Now sit down Heather, let everyone else have a turn."

She dived at him, "Delete it!"

"Okay, okay… Fine" He deleted the picture while attempting to fight her off, and showed her, "Touchy."

"I-" she hiccuped, "have a reputation to uphold."

"Not anymore," Geoff laughed. She glared at him, and he stopped. Huffing, she sat back down.

"Ooh, me next!" Gwen offered, leaning over the bottle, daring anyone to challenge her. No one did. She span it, and this time, it landed on Duncan. She squinted, "Oh, no."

"Oh, yes, Krusty," Duncan joked, "time to shine."

"Stop calling me clown names," she laughed, leaning over to him. Duncan, this time, let her come to him, watching her awkwardly stumble towards him on all-fours, smiling and laughing. She eventually came to him, meeting his lips with hers. Everyone watched on, enjoying the spirit of the moment. Save Trent. Trent sat, vacant. He always thought he could see something between Duncan and Gwen. There always seemed to be a spark between them, although no one else could see it. Everyone else could see that Duncan acted the same towards Gwen as with other girls. But Trent… Maybe it was just paranoia. That the girl he'd liked for years of course fell for the punk, just her type, despite the fact she showed very little interest when he wasn't around. They did have a thing. Once. And that raced through Trent's head every time they hung out. Every. Single. Time. He didn't mean to. It just always slipped back in, and suddenly he can't think of anything else, and he starts to panic, and… It's not that he didn't trust Gwen. He did. And anyway, they weren't dating. She could make her own decisions, and didn't have to think of him. And, for the most part, she didn't. Nevertheless, he couldn't help but think of her when he made decisions. And her and Duncan. Now, with those two kissing each other, right in front of him, there was only one thought in his mind. He couldn't handle it. Couldn't look away, but couldn't bare to look at it. His heart sank, and for one moment, he was sober enough to have a cohesive thought. And that thought was 'Fuck Duncan'. But then, after what seemed like an eternity for him, and no time at all for anyone else, they pulled away, and Trent was thrown back into his drunken revelry, though slightly more wary than before.

Duncan and Gwen stared directly into each other's eyes as they backed away from each other. "Just like I remember it." Duncan said.

"Oh?" Gwen smiled.

"Tastes like the grave."

"Just how you like it," she teased.

"Okay, my turn!" Trent blurted, rushing into the centre. Everyone else jumped slightly, and Bridgette fell back onto her back. "I-I'll go." Trent whispered, spinning the bottle. As it span, he looked around the circle. "I hope I get Bridgette. No… The… New girl? No! I better get Courtney!" he thought, watching the faces as the bottle began to slow. "Courtney! Courtney! Courtney!" came the cacophony from his mind. The bottle… slowly… passed Courtney… and… eventually… stopped… on… Geoff.

"Wo-hoah." Geoff laughed, "Bring those lips on over here Trenty!" he said, puckering and blowing an air kiss at him. Geoff placed a hand in the centre, leaning in hungrily towards him.

"Uh…" Trent said, desperately, his voice barely more than a whisper, as Geoff stalked onwards. "I don't have to kiss a guy do I?" his eyes frantically searched the faces of the attendees. They were all grinning, ear to ear. Even Gwen.

"Rules dude." Duncan stated, as if Trent should've known already. "Have to kiss who it lands on. No exceptions."

"Now bring that sexy ass here boy!" Geoff yelled, leaping forward.

Trent scampered backwards, just as Geoff's face landed where his crotch once was. It wasn't that he was aiming for there, just he was drunk, and his aim was more than a little off.

"Spin the bottle kisses don't count!" Gwen shouted, as Trent began to stumble away as Geoff chased him.

"No they don't!" Heather seconded, looking pointedly at Cody, who was still thinking about the kiss, paying no attention to the current goings-on.

"And…" Zoey slurred, falling over forwards, "We're all wasted! No one cares!"

"Yeah!" Duncan echoed, helping her up, and placing one arm over her shoulder. She giggled, burying her head into his shoulder. "Plus Geoff's not gay either!"

"Huh?" Trent stopped. Geoff proceeded to tackle him to the floor.

"Hey Trent," he smiled. Trent closed his eyes and braced for impact. Their lips collided, and Trent's eyes shot open again. To his surprise, Geoff's were open to. For too long they kept at it, before Geoff pulled away and got off of his friend. "And that," he pointed at nothing in particular, "is how you play!"

Trent stayed lying down as Geoff walked back into the circle, high fiving Duncan, trying to figure out what just happened, and exactly how he felt. He shook his head. Still he didn't get up.

"Who's next?" Geoff asked, after going round the circle, giving each person a high five, even reaching out to DJ, who grinned widely at him, returning the notion, but keeping one eye on Trent. Poor guy.

"Me! Clearly!" Courtney demanded, snatching the bottle. Zoey muttered something into Duncan's ear.

"Hey" he interrupted, as Courtney placed the bottle into position, "maybe our esteemed guest should have a go?"

"What?" Courtney shouted, enraged.

"I said, Zoey here wants a go, and she's new here. Let her go." he explained. Zoey nodded in agreement.

"... Fine!" she agreed reluctantly, "But I get to go next."

"Wow, you're a pushover when you're drunk," Heather commented.

Turning with fury in her eyes, Courtney stared at her, before composing herself, "No… I'm just being fair. And a good friend. And a good-"

"We know how good you are Courtney!" Gwen interrupted, "Let's just let her have a go."

Courtney sat back and huffed, "Of course."

Zoey grabbed the bottle, and haphazardly spun it around, before it stopped, again, on Duncan.

"Whoa! Getting lucky tonight, dude!" Geoff laughed.

But Duncan took it a bit more seriously. Looking into Zoey's eyes as she prepared to lean in, he grabbed her shoulders, and said quietly, "You… You don't have to do it if you don't want to?"

"And why wouldn't eye?" she whispered, trying to sound sexy, but ending up sounding unconfident, and, of course, very tipsy.

"You've got a boyfriend… And you don't like me much… And you're drunk… And-"

Zoey put a finger on his lips, "Who said I didn't like you?"

"But what about Mike?"

"It's like Gwen said," she purred, pulling closer, feeling sexier as he got more worried, "spin the bottle kisses don't count." And with that their lips met, and Duncan sank into it despite his protests.

After three seconds, Courtney had had enough, "Alright! My turn." She had seen Duncan kiss three different girls, and now, it was getting to her. Why should Lindsay, Gwen, and the new girl get a go? She was the one Duncan liked. She was sure of that. She deserved this. New girl had a boyfriend too! Ugh, this was so frustrating. She glared daggers into the back of Zoey's head, and they pulled apart. She scowled at them both, as they smiled at each other. This could go one of two ways. Courtney lands on Duncan, and she shows him a whole world of kissing no one else has, or could. Or, she lands on someone else, and makes a massive show of what he's missing out on, and he gets jealous. Either way, she gets what she wants, and Duncan wants her. She span.

"Oh, Bridgette!" she called, "I've got some lips with your name on them!" Bridgette looked up at Courtney striking her sexiest pose, and gulped. Courtney stalked across the circle to her, clearly making sure Duncan was noticing. Bridgette shuddered, as Courtney brought her face within inches of hers, "Get ready for the time of your life." And, as Courtney placed her hands on her face, her stomach churned.

"Nngh…" Bridgette moaned. Courtney smiled wider, and puckered. "I've gotta go!" Bridgette yelled, shoving Courtney away from her and hurrying to the bathroom.

"Wait!" Courtney screeched, "My kiss!"

"Tough luck sunshine!" Duncan laughed.

"Aaargh!" Courtney screamed.

In the bathroom, Bridgette was busy throwing up. Her head in the toilet, her blonde hair falling all over the place, strands sticking to her face and straight up all over her head. She groaned into the bowl, spitting small chunks in, cursing herself. Why'd she have to do that? Admittedly, she didn't want Courtney to kiss her. She didn't swing that way. She was sure of it. Mostly sure. After she was done, and seemed to have sobered up - well, at least, she didn't have double vision, and was able to regret most of her actions - she hit the toilet bowl, and stayed, despite her better judgement, and the smell. She sat there, thinking. Had she ruined anything with anyone? Probably not past obviously being worse than everyone else at holding her liquor. Was she having a good time? She didn't know. Maybe? The throwing up part wasn't fun. Some of the rest of it was. The bit of dancing, the card games… Up until the spin the bottle game started. It's not like she had a problem with it… Or was it? Maybe she was just uncomfortable with the meaningless kisses. She had always felt that something like that should have meaning behind it, even if she was in a minority there. Just kissing everyone and anyone seemed… Wrong. Like you didn't hold love in a high enough regard. And she loved love. The amount of nights she'd spent awake, just thinking of her future life, how she'd find the one, get married, have beautiful kids… Always married. Never throwing it all away. But why should what others do get in the way of her feelings? She'd tried so hard to keep those sort of ideas out of her life. Letting others live their lives the way they wanted, at least when it came to their feelings, and their bodies. So why did it bother her? She hit the toilet bowl, then herself. It was nothing to do with Duncan. He was a friend. A close friend, yes, but not someone she had, or could have, romantic feelings to. No way. It wasn't happening. Besides, there was no way he felt that way, seeing how he was with Lindsay. And Gwen. And Zoey. She hit the bowl again, and stood up, composing herself, "Grow up Bridge…" she muttered, "Stop it."

Suddenly the door burst open, "Uh… Sorry… Can I?" Cody asked, swaying, holding on to his stomach.

"Sure, sure!" she said, getting out of the way, her eyes wide.

"Tha-" Cody murmured, pushing past her, and vomiting into the toilet before he could even finish the word. She grimaced, and shuffled out of the room. Fair enough. Cody shouldn't have had the vodka after the beer. Just a bad idea in general. Never liquor after beer. Even she knew that.

As she stood back into the room, a little groggy, but standing, and mostly sober, she caught sight of the group again. Trent was back in the circle again, and the game of spin the bottle seemed to have ended. The group seemed to just be lying around, talking and joking. DJ still stood in the corner. She edged to go outside, wishing for some fresh air. DJ turned at that moment, and waved warmly. She waved back, sheepishly, and glanced outside. DJ nodded, and moved to join her on the porch.

She walked up to the wooden railing, and leant on it. It creaked in distress, but held. She stared up at the stars, mostly visible. It was a clear night too, without a cloud in sight. A chill breeze swept through, and she pulled her jacket closer around her. She had been wearing this thick brown leather jacket all night, though no one noticed. It was totally not her style, her dad's actually, and about two sizes too big, but she figured it looked stylish enough, and wore it, without her dad actually noticing, over a white, partly lacy crop top, and knee length jeans with flat black shoes and ankle length white, lace socks. She hadn't done anything with her hair, and had kept makeup to a minimum. A decision she was currently happy with, as it would've just gotten messed up anyway, and would've just been a pain to remove later. She looked back up at the pitch black night sky. It was a full moon. Beautifully offset with the night sky. A beautiful night in itself. She sighed.

"Beautiful." DJ said behind her. She turned, and he, too, was gazing up into the sky.

"You like the sky at night too?" she said, gesturing that he should stand beside her.

"Yeah…" he almost whispered, not taking his eyes off of the moon, "It's peaceful. Natural. Pure… Quiet." His voice lowered on the word quiet.

Bridgette's face fell for a split-second, and her eyes searched him, "Yeah… Quiet's good."

"That why you're not in there?" he asked, tearing himself away from the sky.

Now it was her turn to look away, "Yeah… I guess."

"Are you sure?"

"... No…" she murmured.

"It's not because of… Someone is it?" DJ asked, concerned, placing one hand on her shoulder.

"What?" she said, startled, "No… No it isn't." DJ raised an eyebrow. "Maybe…" she conceded.

He looked back at the sky, leaving the two of them in silence for a few seconds. "It's not Duncan is it?"

A shout came from inside and Bridgette shivered slightly, almost imperceptibly, "I… I just…"

"I understand." he said softly, "It's alright."

"Is it?" she turned and looked him dead in the eye, "I don't know how I feel. I can't stand to be around him… But I really want to be around him, you know? And everyone else seems to feel the same way, and I can't escape it, and I…"

"Bridge…" DJ placed his hand underneath her chin, "For one, no one else thinks of Duncan that way."

Her heart fluttered, "But… They…"

"That's just Duncan. They're playing along. Heather, Gwen… Lindsay I'm not sure, but then again she probably isn't either."

She cracked a smile, "Yeah… I guess… I just don't know why I feel this way."

DJ cocked an eyebrow, "Um, because you… Like him?"

"Do I?"

"I don't really think I can answer that question."

"I mean, I'm not sure, you know? I don't think so. We've been friends forever, I've been the tomboy forever, and we're-"

"Maybe it's just hormones," he mused, "like, you're just confused? Because of your… Hormones."

"Yeah. Sure. That's it. Biology."

"Exactly!" he smiled, "Not everything has to be so serious. Everyone goes through this stage where you're unsure, you're confused, lonely, desperate…" He drifted off.

Bridgette eyed him for a second, as he returned his gaze to the stars, seemingly begging for an answer. His brown eyes glistened with the reflections of the universe. Bridgette looked him down again. She finally noticed he hadn't dressed up for the party. Just a t-shirt and cargo shorts. Like he didn't want to be noticed. Like he wanted to fade into the background. After a few moments of figuring him out, she spoke up, "Why aren't you in there?"

He didn't avert his eyes from the sky, "I don't want to be."

"Why?"

"It's loud. And it's peaceful out here."

"Nice to get away from the chaos?"

"You could say that."

"Why didn't you have anything to drink?"

"I don't drink?"

"Why?"

"I don't need to. I don't want all the regrets that come with alcohol. I don't believe in it. My mom would kill me if I did."

Bridgette studied him again. He was holding back. "Would you like to talk?"

"Aren't we doing that?" he finally looked back at her, and for a second, she was sure she could see a tear in his eye.

"You don't seem alright."

"I'm fine."

"Are you?"

He sighed, "Maybe. There's just a lot of pressure, you know? The boys are always going on about the scouts that are showing up. And with just my mama, she's been on my back to be getting a job…" he fell silent, and Bridgette waited, patiently, "So, I did. It's not been easy juggling that, school, and football, but I figure, if I keep us afloat now, when… If I get signed, I get free reign. I can buy mama all she's ever wanted, and everything will fall into place. But… If it doesn't… I… I don't know."  
After waiting to see if he was done, Bridgette reached out and squeezed his arm, "Hey… That's alright. It's okay to be worried. We all are, I promise. What you're doing is amazing. You're amazing."

"Thanks Bridge…" he sniffed, "But, y'know…"

"I know it's hard to talk about." she began to stroke his arm, "Have you told Duncan and Geoff?"

He shook his head, "No. I love those guys, but come on. They won't be as accepting as you. Or most."

"I think you're underestimating them."

"Did you see Geoff tonight?"

She shuddered, "Yes, but Geoff loves you too. He'd accept what's going on. I'm sure he feels similar. And as much as he'd hate to admit it, I bet Duncan does too."

DJ smiled, "Thanks Bridge." He didn't continue.

"It's a little cold out here," she mused.

"Maybe we should go inside then."

"Oh. Yeah, let's go back in. I wonder if anyone's seen the ghost yet."

"Oh, man I almost forgot this place was…" he gulped, "H-haunted…"

"Oh…" she said, surprised someone actually believed that, "DJ, it's not haunted you know?"

"You don't know that," he squeaked, "there could be all sorts of ghosts in here."

"You really believe in ghosts?"

"You don't?"

She laughed, "I don't actually know. Maybe, who knows." She held his hand, "But if there are ghosts, I'll protect you, alright?" she smiled broadly.

"Yeah… Yeah… Of course, thanks Bridge."

"...And when she opened the door… There on the handle…" Duncan said, holding the torch beneath his face, illuminating himself in some sort of ghoulish light, his face part bright yellow, and part dark shadow.

"Oh, no not this story again," DJ mumbled. Bridgette looked at him, puzzled, then gazed back at Duncan, who was gleefully finishing his ghost story.

"Was…" he whispered. Everyone in the circle leaned in. "A… Bloody hook!" he shouted, brandishing a prop hook from behind his back. DJ jumped back into himself, as did the rest of the circle, Trent falling into Gwen's arms, who, after a second, recovered and began laughing.

"Nice one dude, where'd you get the hook?"

"What hook?" Duncan asked, looking confused.

Zoey fainted. Courtney's mouth was agape, "The… The one on your hand…"

Duncan slowly looked at his right hand, and yelled.

Now, everyone screamed. Then, as Cody scrambled into Heather's arms, Courtney crawled away, backwards, and Gwen squeezed Trent's head, Duncan chuckled. Everyone stopped. His laugh got louder. Courtney and Heather looked at each other, a moment of realisation flashed through their eyes. Duncan fell over in his laughter, and began to hit the floor with his free hand. Gwen's face turned from confusion, to anger, "Oh, you fuck!"

"You little shit!" Heather cried.

"Kill yourself, dick!" Courtney joined in. Geoff and Trent began to laugh a little. Gwen quickly let go of Trent and pushed him away, but he just kept laughing.

"You're all awful!" Heather shouted, before looking down at Cody, who had his arms wrapped around her waist, and was still trembling. "Let go of me you little brat!" she screeched, prying him off of her. Cody shuffled to the wall, putting himself in fetal position.

"I don't get it." Lindsay said.

"Basically," Heather scowled, "Duncan's an unfunny, not scary, annoying little shit."

"Hey you all seemed to be a little scared a few seconds ago," Duncan said in between laughs.

"I was so not. I was just humouring you, God." she rolled her eyes.

"Sure, sure." Duncan giggled, "And that's just water in Cody's trousers."

Cody blushed, and pulled himself into himself even more.

"Oh my God, ew," Heather said, scooting back across the floor as far away from Cody as possible.

"Gross, dude," Courtney cringed. Cody slowly got up, then raced to the bathroom, covering his crotch with his shirt.

"Ah, whatever." Duncan said, coming out of his laughing fit, "Whatever you guys say, I know how scared you were."

Heather huffed and folded her arms, "Well… That's enough scary stories for tonight."

"Hey that was only one!" Duncan protested.

"What about mine? And Cody's? And Courtney's?" she asked, smirking.

"You call those scary? No chance."

"Shut up, I'm done." she pouted.

"Yeah, might wake up the ghost." Geoff said, wiggling his fingers in her direction.

She flinched, "I do so not believe in ghosts."

"Ghosts, where?" DJ asked, shivering, as Bridgette finally led him out of the doorway into the group, after convincing him that going back inside was better than being outside.

"You don't seriously believe in that do you DJ? Courtney asked.

"Why is everyone so surprised?" DJ replied.

"I believe," Gwen backed DJ up, "I think there's something you know?"

"Yeah, we can tell Gothy." Heather snapped.

Gwen grumbled, but didn't reply. Duncan intervened, "Gotta say I kinda do too."

"You?" Bridgette said, incredulously.

"Big, tough, scary Duncan believes in spirits and spooks? How about leprechauns? The Loch Ness Monster?" Heather mocked him.

Duncan shrugged this all off, "I just think it's cool."

"Yeah," Gwen echoed, "and some things you can't explain." Duncan nodded.

"Ugh," Courtney said, exasperated, "I can't believe you're even entertaining the notion. Everything can be explained, it's not cool, it's stupid, and there's absolutely no evidence to back that sort of thing up!"

"There's no evidence against it!" Geoff offered.

"That's not an argument," Courtney argued.

"Ooh, I believe!" Lindsay interrupted, finally catching up with the conversation.

"Really Lindsay?" Heather said, almost sadly.

"Yeah, this one time, me and my sister were in the attic, and then we heard this noise, and she totally freaked out! I didn't though, and I stayed up, and I looked around, and there was nothing there. It was so freaky!"

"That…" Courtney began.

"Cool story Linds," Duncan interrupted, before Courtney could tell her otherwise. Lindsay smiled, blushing slightly.

"So what about everyone else?" Geoff asked, "Is that five believers, two non-believers? Bridgette?"

"I'm…" she thought, "On the fence. I believe in the soul, and spirits but-"

"Spirits, that counts!" Duncan said. Bridgette looked at him and pouted. He shrugged, "Hey, not having you copping out of this, ghost girl." She rolled her eyes, smiling despite herself.

"Six believers…" Geoff mused, "Trent?"

Trent glanced at Gwen, "Y-yeah I believe. Like, some things can't be explained. Some creepy things." He shuddered.

"You think so?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah, of course. I've heard some real creepy stories."

Duncan made the noise of a whip cracking. Trent whipped round and glared at him. "So that's seven… And we all know how Cody feels." Geoff grinned, "So, eight. Who's left?"

Duncan glanced down at Zoey, passed out on the floor, "Just Zo."

"Excuse me, you have a pet name for her?" Heather raised her eyebrows.

"It's not mine." Duncan rolled his eyes, defensive. He picked her up and laid her head on his lap, smacking her face lightly.

Soon her eyes fluttered open, and as she came to, staring up at Duncan's face, she smiled for a split-second, before remembering what had just happened, and jumped back, scrambling to get off of him, "You… You ass… Why? Did you think that was funny?" She tried to hit him, but was far too weak to actually hurt him.

"Hey, hey… One, yes it was funny, two, we have more important things to talk about." Duncan said, seriously, catching her flailing arm as she tried to hit him.

"Huh?" she said, calming down.

"Do you believe in ghosts?" he smiled.

"Why, is there one here?" she squeaked, falling over backwards, then looking around, as many of the others chuckled along.

"Hey, nine to two…" Geoff pondered, "You were saying Heather?"

Heather looked around, "You're all insane."

Courtney sighed, then immediately yawned, "Can… Can we sleep now?"

Duncan grinned, "Sure. I'll grab the sleeping bags."

Duncan raced out to his car, and the others were left in silence for a minute. "He'll probably need help." Geoff spoke up.

"Yeah, of course." DJ agreed, getting up. The two friends left to help.

"He better have enough." Heather said, "I am not sharing."

"Oh? You and Cody seemed to be really hitting it off," Gwen smirked.

"Leave it." she hissed back, "I'm sure you'd be more than happy to share."

"Oh?" Gwen raised on eyebrow.

"With Trent. Clearly."

"I guess." Gwen sighed, dreamily. Heather pretended to gag.

"I yeah, I'm not sharing either." Courtney said, and Lindsay and Bridgette nodded along.

"Sure." Heather rolled her eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Courtney asked, becoming aggressive.

"You think I haven't seen the eyes you've all been shooting Duncan. One, gross. Have some standards."

"I was certainly not shooting eyes!" Courtney complained, "I am not interested. At all!"

"Of course." Heather said, apologetically, "That's why he's on the cover of the school paper every week."

"That's 'cause you're all boring. Duncan's the only person around here who actually does anything."

"Plus, whenever you interview the team, who do you go to?"

"The captain, duh!"

Lindsay giggled, "Nah, you're interested. We all know. We've all known for years, why try to hide it?"

"Oh, little miss observant here knows." Courtney rounded on Lindsay, "You're the one who arrived with him."

"Hey, don't be like that to her," Bridgette moved herself between them.

"... I don't even need to start on you."

"Excuse me?" Bridgette stood up to Courtney, until they were only a few inches from each other.

"Sleeping bags are here!" Duncan announced, carrying three bags through the door. The girls instantly fell away from each other. Heather rolled her eyes.

"Great! Now give me one." she ordered.

Duncan raised his eyebrows, and tossed her one, "We've got three more, and a couple of mats and blankets and such. Plus candles." The other two guys entered behind him, geoff carrying the rest of the sleeping bags, and DJ carrying blankets under his arms, and a bag full of candles.

"Why candles?" Courtney asked.

"See, dude," Geoff "I told you we didn't need 'em."

"Shut up," Duncan grumbled, "we can light 'em and just… Light the room."

"I guess Cody'll need a nightlight." Gwen said.

"Hey…" Cody said, coming out of the bathroom.

"Shut up, pisspants." Duncan called out. He looked down at himself in shame.

"Leave him be, Duncan." Bridgette sighed.

Duncan looked at her in surprise for a second, then shrugged, "Aight. Sorry, Cody. Here, take a sleeping bag." He tossed the second one over to him, as he came over. Heather stared at Duncan in confusion. Was he being nice? In all the long, long years she'd known him, he'd been nice to someone… Twice? When he was trying to get Gwen to notice him, and that one time he had to apologise to Harold. Granted, that second one definitely wasn't of his own volition, but the first time certainly was. And the only thing they had in common, was that there was a girl involved, Who was he trying to impress? The first assumption is clearly Bridgette, but they'd always been friends, and he'd always been himself, like she was one of the guys. The new factor was the new girl, Zoey was it? Maybe that was it. Trying to impress her. The question was why?

"And you too Zoey." Duncan tossed his final bag over to her, before taking the bag of candles from DJ and setting them up, lighting each with his little red lighter.

"Th-thanks." she said, unrolling it.

"Go on, grab a bag," he said, to no one in particular. Lindsay went up and took one from Geoff, as did Gwen.

"I'm having this one," Geoff said, "I'm not being selfish or anything, it's just expensive. And mine." he said, quickly defending himself.

"Whatever," Bridgette shrugged, "I think I'd prefer a mat." Trent nodded along with this.

"Fine," Duncan said, having lit the candles, "Trent, Bridge, DJ, Courtney and I will have the mats. Everyone… I dunno, sleep."

Sure enough, everyone lay down, Gwen, Heather and Lindsay cuddled up in their bags to one end of the room, Trent on his mat, gazing longingly at Gwen's bag. Courtney slept on her own, at the other end, and in between, Zoey, Geoff, Bridgette, DJ and Duncan slept in a general bundle, around the candles, and Cody lay, watching the stairs that no one had wanted to get near, between the two groups.

Bridge fidgeted, unable to get to sleep. Her mind kept racing. Heather couldn't be right, could she? It's not like Lindsay, Courtney and Zoey were all interested in Duncan… It can't be… Zoey has a boyfriend. But Lindsay and Courtney. No way. Why would she say that? Plus, she wasn't even interested. Hadn't she gone over this with DJ just now? God, why was she being such a little girl?

"Can't sleep huh?" Duncan asked, from his position, conveniently placed right next to her. She shifted herself around so they were facing each other.

"Guess not. Problem?"

"Yeah, your moving around is distracting. You want me to knock you out? Probably be easier."

She smiled, "You think so? C'mon then."

He was quiet for a minute, "Nah, too much effort."

"Aww, I was looking forward to that."

"I'm sure you were," he laughed, "most girls aren't so lucky."

"And neither am I."

"No. You're not." They both fell silent. "Good night, though."

"Huh?"

"Tonight. Fun, wasn't it."

"I guess."

"Well there was that point where you ran… And threw up."

"Thanks for reminding me."

"No worries." he grinned. However, she couldn't help but think about how he'd kissed Gwen, and Lindsay, and Zoey. Sure, it was just spin the bottle, and they were all drunk, but… She just didn't think it was right. She certainly didn't want to kiss Courtney, but at least it would've been just one person. Three? It just didn't sit right with her.

"Of course." she muttered, finally.

"Is this because I got kissed three times?"

She yelped, startled, "I…"

"Cause you didn't even get one."

"Yeah… That's it."

Duncan's face fell. It was clear he had figured it out. And, although he thought that everyone wanted him, he was fairly sure Bridgette had fallen. The way she acted around him, this whole fiasco. Honestly he felt bad. Sure he was drunk, and the kisses didn't count, but he could see it in her eyes. She hated watching it. "I'm sorry." he quickly said, before he had enough time to think about it, and consider how much of a stupid idea that was.

"Huh?" she looked up at him, but he was already pretending to be asleep. Did he… Just say that? She squinted, confused. And turned onto her back.

At the crack of dawn, Cody was already awake. "Guys! Wake up!" he screamed, running around the room.

"What the fuck is it Cody?" Heather shouted at him, rubbing her eyes.

"I saw it! I saw the ghost!"

DJ shot up, "Where? Ghost?" Lindsay screamed.

"Oh come on guys…" Courtney said, but she was completely drowned out by the hysteria whipped up, as Geoff got up, and started questioning Cody, and DJ began freaking out.

"... What?" Duncan yawned, sitting up.

"Huh?" Bridgette wheezed, removing her arm from around him, and rolling over. She blinked, and looked over at Duncan, who was equally surprised. "Um…"

"I won't say anything if you don't…" he whispered.

She smiled at him, "Sure."

Heather glanced over, disappointed at the hysteria, and caught them. She grinned evilly, sure she could use this somehow.

"I… I think we should leave…" Cody whined, holding onto Gwen's arm.

Gwen rolled her eyes, and plucked Cody off of her arm, "Whatever. I could go home."

"Sure," Trent agreed.

"Let's get out of here now!" DJ screamed, leading the charge out. Cody and Lindsay sprinted after him, and everyone else followed at their own pace.

Geoff hung back with Duncan, "Killer party, man." They fist bumped.

"You know it." he said, "You think you and Trent have a future together?"

"Nah, you know me, can't be tied down."

Duncan laughed, "Of course, dude."

Zoey shyly crept up to Duncan, "So...Duncan… Do you think you could give me a lift?"

Duncan and Geoff looked at each other, Geoff grinning from ear to ear. Duncan rolled his eyes. "Sure, Zo. No problem. Lindsay seems to be finding her own way."

"Yeah… About that… I'd be concerned."

"Don't be, she'll be fine."

"Oh… Okay."

"I'll leave you two to it," Geoff said, running off ahead to his car.

"C'mon then. Where are you?"

"At my aunt's house. 43 Railroad Avenue."

"I… Think I know it… Sure." Duncan stepped up to his car, and opened the passenger side door, "After you."

Zoey blushed, "Thank you."

They got in, and Duncan flipped the radio on. The sharp noise caused Zoey to grab her ears, and bend over. "Ooh, sorry," he turned it off, "first hangover?"

"I… I guess," she winced.

"You'll get used to it," he stated, matter-of-factly as they pulled away.

"I don't plan to." she moaned. He laughed.

For most of the time, they drove in silence, until about five minutes from their destination, when Duncan asked, "So, you have a good time last night?"

"I… I think?" she said, holding her forehead.

Oh, she doesn't remember, he thought. Doesn't remember the kiss. He wasn't gonna let her know, then. No way. "Ah, you know. That's how it is."

"Is it?"

"Alcohol. What happens." he shrugged, "Nothing really happened. Just played a few games. Told a few scary stories. Cody pissed himself."

"Oh my, is he okay?" Zoey said, sitting up.

"Uh… Yeah. He was just scared."

"Was I?"

"I couldn't tell," he said, and she relaxed slightly, "you were passed out."

"I was?" she asked, worried.

"Yeah," he chuckled, "you fainted. To be fair, my story was, of course, super scary."

"Of course." she turned to the window.

Duncan furrowed his brow. Of course, she was just as withdrawn as before. Even after all that. That kind of defeated the whole point of taking her. "Didn't you at least enjoy getting to know new people? Get out of your comfort zone? Be away from…"

"Mike…" she snapped, turning back. She immediately softened, however, "I guess. It was fun meeting your friends. Most of them were cool. I guess… And Mike was annoying me yesterday…

"Oh?"

Zoey rolled her eyes, almost not believing how she was about to inflate his ego, "Yeah… He wouldn't stop complaining about you."

"Oh." Duncan grinned, "Of course."

"And… Honestly, Duncan… Thank you, it was fun."

"You're welcome. It was fun having you."

They turned to each other, and smiled. "There it is." Zoey said, almost sadly.

"I know, I've been driving," he smirked. She sighed, but smiled despite herself.

He parked, and she got out, then walked around to the driver's side window. He rolled it down, "Miss me already?"

"Thank you, Duncan." she ignored him, "I had fun."

"Hey, you already said that, so I'm not gonna say you're welcome again."

"Whatever. See you around." she began to walk to the door

"Yeah… Sure. Call me."

"I might." she called back, turning to wave, before pushing the door open. Duncan sat alone in his car for a full thirty seconds. Then he grinned, and started the engine, and set upon driving home.

*Author's Note*

So, thanks for reading again, if indeed you still are. I tried something new here, and I intend to continue with these flips of points of view and characters' feelings. Again, review if you have any ideas, ((constructive)) criticism, feedback, you know. I'm having a lot of fun writing this, and I get that it's a little long, but I hope people actually take the time. Share it if you want. Recommend. So, that was it. Hope you enjoyed! Thank you. I love writing in general, but having an audience, and knowing I have an audience is fulfilling, and kinda helps. Okay, yeah, that's it. See you next time hopefully.


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